The 10th Kingdom:The House of Wolves
by petitebelle22
Summary: This is the story of Virginia and Wolf after the first series. Characters by Simon Moore, OCs and poems by me
1. Chapter 1 Alls well

As Virginia walked to the balcony, she looked at the beautiful forests of the 4th kingdom. How strange that these forests, which once filled with trolls, huntsman, sorceresses, death and destruction, were now the homes of pixies, birds, and fairies that danced in the trees like a thousand twinkling Christmas lights. The dark purple sky was filled with stars that seemed to be shining down on the happy partiers that continued to flood Prince Wendell's palace. Virginia listened as Prince Wendell began to announce the grand finale. It seems as though Tony finally found an invention that not only pleased Wendell, but was proving to be very profitable and popular in the 4th kingdom, fireworks. Wendell counted down the fireworks as thousands of on- lookers watched the skies. Suddenly a high pitched whistling noise was met with shrill screams from the people of the 4th kingdom. The fireworks exploded into streams of green, pink, and blue, and screams were replaced by laughter and applause from all except the emperor with no clothes who was still unconscious. Virginia couldn't help but smile; they have all had so little to smile about over the last few days.

She placed a protective hand on her belly and imagined what her baby would be like. Would the baby look more like her Wolf? Secretly she would love to have a baby girl. Just then she felt a pair of arms wrap securely around her waist. Wolf buried his nose in her hair and taking in her scent. There was a proud smile that came across his face as he rubbed her belly.

"Huff, puff Virginia, a baby! I swear I will be a good father. I've already started reading all the latest books like, _The Expectant Father: Facts, Tips, and Advice for Dads-to-be, DON'T JUST STAND THERE: How to Be Helpful, Clued-In, Supportive, Engaged, Meaningful, and Relevant in the Delivery Room, and What to Expect When Your Wife Is Expanding_."

Virginia stood on her toes and pecked Wolf on the cheek. Wolf simply closed his eyes, not quite believing his luck that this delectable cream puff was actually his. They stood there watching the fireworks for quite a while when Wolf noticed that Virginia was singing to herself. Virginia could still remember how it felt to lie in her canopy bed, caressing her mother's fur coat as her mother sang the lullaby. Wolf clasped his hands together and looked pleasingly at Virginia. With a heavy sigh she began walking toward their bed. Wolf scooped her up in his arms and carried her, setting her down so gently. He crawled under the covers and waited as Virginia began to sing.

I'm wishing on a star  
To follow where you are  
I'm wishing on a dream

To follow what it means  
And I'll wish on all the rainbows that I see  
I wish for all the people who dream a dream

I'm wishing on a star  
To follow where you are

When her song was done, Virginia looked down to see Wolf with tears in his eyes. He gave her a kiss and pulled her close to his chest. Soon they were both falling into a peaceful sleep and Virginia could not recall the last time she felt more content.

Virginia awoke the next morning with a small smile on her face. Her entire body felt weightless. Her muscles had finally relaxed allowing her to enjoy a full night's sleep. She dressed in her tights, skirt, and pale blue jumper, ready to go back home to New York. As she went down the winding staircase of Prince Wendell's palace, she thought of what she would do when she returned to the city. Her job and her old home would certainly not be waiting for her. She went to the kitchens and found her Wolf busy preparing bacon sandwiches for their "long journey".

"Huff, puff" exclaimed Wolf "you're awake! Hello my wife"

Wolf scooped up Virginia in his arms and kissed her soundly, quite theatrically on the lips, then he whispered a quiet hello to her belly.

"Good morning to you to Wolf. Where is my dad?"

"No idea, but I have been busy making us some breakfast. Now come on Virginia, you have to eat, especially in your condition."

Virginia scanned the room for Tony, but could not find him anywhere. She went off to search for him, leaving Wolf to finish the breakfast. She found Tony sitting in the ballroom where Wendell's coronation took place. He was sitting on Wendell's throne, his legs crossed, and his right hand slightly cupped and waving to all the imaginary subjects.

"Thank you, thank you. Oh no please, Emperor, I couldn't possibly accept all this gold…"

"Well it's nice to know that you've finally gotten over your obsession with money and power Dad"

Tony gave out a small yelp and jumped off the throne so quickly he nearly fell off the steps.

"Virginia! I didn't hear you come in, how long have you been standing there?"

"I came to say goodbye, Wolf and I will be going home soon." She went to her father, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him in for a last hug.

"You can't go yet Virginia. For once we have everything we ever wanted, and no one is trying to kill us."

"I can't stay here …"

Virginia's eyes instantly fell on the spot where she watched her mother die in her arms, and by her daughter's hands. Tony could see the tears welling up in Virginia's eyes and he ran to her. He held her and stroked her hair, just like when she was a girl. He tried to find the words to tell her how much he loved her, and how he desperately wanted to give her the world. He tried to remind her that she was loved by her mother. Even through the cloud of all sickness and grief, in her dying moment, she recognized Virginia as her little girl.

"It's alright Virginia. Look at me; this was not your fault. Your mother was very sick but she loved you Virginia. I love you. I know I haven't always done my best, but I've always tried. I just wanted us to have everything. I just wanted us to be happy. And I have always been on your side, no matter what…"

Virginia kissed Tony on his cheek. They both jumped back at the sound of a loud whimpering sob.

"Oh huff, puff! Come here big guy!"

Wolf ran up to pull both Virginia and Tony into a big bear hug. Virginia allowed herself to be hugged by both her dad and Wolf, but Tony just stood there stiff as a board, with a look of pain on his face. Finally he patted Wolf on the back and was released from the hug.

Wendell walked in shortly after, followed closely by his advisors, dignitaries and of course Prince, the royal Labrador, and looked at the three heroes in front of him. What a strange group of misfits we make, he thought to himself.

He instructed his servants to bring the magic mirror into the ballroom. He turned the circular engraving on the upper right corner of the mirror and revealed to the group of astonished spectators the winkling lights and evergreen woods of the 10th Kingdom.

"Look, that's it. That's where I went!"

His advisors could only stare into this wonderful unknown.

Wendell couldn't help but smile as he recalled the moment he first traveled through the mirror and entered that strange magical world. His advisors could only stare into this wonderful unknown. Virginia knelt down and gave Prince a kiss, and then turned to her father.

"Are you really going to stay here? You can come with us."

"Yeah, I'm going to stay here. Besides what am I gonna do. Go back to New York and be a janitor. Remember, I'm still wanted for armed robbery."

"Yeah, I almost forgot about that."

Tony laughed; he would miss his little Princess, "I'll stay for at least a few weeks, then who knows…"

Virginia wrapped her arms around her Dad's neck and hugged him, tears already threatening to fall from her blue eyes. She finally let go and looked into her father's face,

"I really love you daddy."

Tony could no longer hold back the tears, "You haven't called me daddy since you were a little girl."

Suddenly Wolf pulled them both into another hug. He kissed Tony on the cheek, while Tony simply patted Wolf on his cheek in response. Virginia and Wolf turned to go through the magic mirror. As the passed through the portal, Wolf looked to Tony over his shoulder and shouted, "See you soon….Grandpa!"

"Grandpa!" that was the last thing Tony could manage to stay before the pair disappeared through the portal.

Wolf and Virginia arrived back in New York. They walked through Central Park and finally came to a bridge where they sat and reflected on the tumult of their pasts and the wonderful uncertainty of their future. Virginia felt at peace when Wolf cradled her stomach. There could have been no man happier or more proud than Wolf at that moment. He was back in the 10th Kingdom with his beautiful creamy wife, and his child.

Virginia suddenly became very concerned as she realized they had no place to stay for the night. Wolf reassured her and ran along the paved roads, pulling Virginia along with him. Virginia was about to Colin when finally Wolf stopped outside the hotel he had been looking for. Virginia felt the breath knocked out of her as they stood outside the Ritz-Carlton.

Before Virginia could protest at the ridiculousness of Wolf's choice, he pulled her through the doors, stopping only to thank and praise the door man for his manners. Wolf sat Virginia down on a sofa in the lobby and then made his way over to the concierge desk. A petite red-headed young woman working at the desk noticed the handsome man stalking his way through the lobby and began to adjust her form fitting blazer and skirt. As Wolf approached her, she flashed him a big toothy grin and welcomed him to the hotel. Wolf looked down at the young woman and returned her smile.

The woman was cordial and extremely accommodating to the tall dark stranger, bending over every so often, confident that she was exposing a fair amount of skin to the man in front of her. Her smile fell when Wolf requested the Central Park Suite for himself and his wife. She followed Wolf's eyes and saw Virginia sitting on the sofa watching the both of them.

The young woman instantly dropped her coy acting and became very cold and business-like, typing furiously on her keyboard as she checked for Wolf's reservation.

"Well our suite will be $1,000 a night."

"Yes of course," Wolf reached into his coat and pant pockets pretending to look for his wallet. The young woman was becoming more and more frustrated by the minute. Wolf seemed to drop a small walnut sized shell onto the floor in front of the woman.

"Oh apologies ma'am, would you mind reaching that for me."

"Not at all sir" said the woman with a fake forced smile on her face. As she bent down to pick up the small shell, it suddenly cracked open and bright golden specks of dust began to pour out. The fumes filled her nose, and her eyes began to turn from a blue-green color to a golden amber color. She stood up and looked vacantly at Wolf.

"Now, you were saying about the Central Park suite. I believe if you check your records, you will see that we already have a reservation, under the name Wolfson."

The young woman clicked a few keys on her keyboard, and then handed Wolf the keys to the suite, "You're right sir, my apologies. Here are your keys, and I hope you and your wife have a wonderful stay at the Ritz-Carlton."

"Thank you"

Wolf grabbed the keys and made his way back to Virginia. She stood with her brows drawn together, hands crossed across her chest. Wolf huffed and puffed holding her hand as her guided her to their room.

"What did you do Wolf?"

"Whatever do you mean my dear?"

"Wolf, how did you get those keys?"

"The young lady gave them to me."

"But how did you pay for the room?"

"Oh huff, puff Virginia! Just trust me!"

"This is coming from the wolf that gave my father a magic bean that resulted in my father becoming an outlaw wanted for armed robbery."

"Oh Virginia, it's our honeymoon! Now come on, let's go up to our romantic suite where we can eat ourselves silly and you can sing some more for me and our little cub."

Wolf carried Virginia up to their suite and straight into their bed. He instantly began prowling the room, picking up all manner of gadgets. He finally settled on preoccupying himself with the mechanisms of a DVD player while Virginia was on the phone ordering a raw steak and glass of warm milk for Wolf and a well-done burger with French fries, green beans, and lemonade for herself.

After they had eaten, Virginia decided she was in desperate need of a bath. She walked into the opulent white, pink, and gold bathroom. She let the warm water run in the bath and threw in some salts and lavender oil for good measure. Virginia stripped off all her clothes and wrapped one of the fluffy white towels around her.

Virginia couldn't help but laugh as Wolf quietly stalked his way into the room. She took off her towel and placed it on a hook as she dipped her body into the water. Wolf's eyes bulged out of his head, like one of those cartoon wolves that she used to watch as a kid. She immersed herself into the bath until only her head could be seen poking out from a sea of pink bubbles. Wolf stood leaning against the door frame gazing at her for quite some time. A few minutes later Virginia felt the water rise, and pair of strong, furry arms wrap around her middle. He touched her soft delicate face in his big hands and bringing his lips down to hers. Virginia turned so she was sitting with her back against Wolf's chest. Her eyes fluttered shut as she as she smelled the coconut shampoo and felt Wolf's fingers massages the cream into her hair and scalp. After he rinsed the shampoo out, he picked up the wash cloth and began to lather the body wash onto Virginia's arms, legs, torso, and back. Soon her fingers began to prune and the water was starting to get cooler. Wolf got out of the tub and extended his hand to help Virginia out as well. After he dried himself and Virginia off, he picked her up and carried her to their bed. Virginia's eyes adjusted to the darkness as she listened to the strong heart beating against her. She was filled with thoughts of her baby and the unfortunate reality of her very short pregnancy. In two months she would be a mother. Joy should have been her primary feeling but Virginia couldn't help but think of her own mother.

Catherine wasn't born evil; she molded and formed by expert hands. In her deepest moments of depression, anger, and disappointment in her own life, she was seduced by power. She was a sweet girl who despite being a beautiful, eligible, and very desirable debutante, married a poor janitor out of love, and she showered Virginia with affection.

"You're not going to be like her Virginia."

"How did you know that is what I was thinking of?"

"It's only natural. You will be a wonderful mother Virginia. I love you."

"I love you too, Wolf."

Virginia held on to the man at her side and felt her eyes grow heavy with sleep. Soon there hearts began a slow rhythmic dance as they drifted off into their own worlds.

Wolf dreamed of chasing his little cub around Central Park, with his beautiful Virginia, bathed in the warm sunlight, watching them with big a smile on her face. Virginia on the other hand, dreamt of ice and snow. She was standing on a misty snow covered mountain. Her teeth chattered, her hands face, and lips turned to pale blue, and ice framed her hair and face. She suddenly felt a warmth radiating from within. As she turned to look behind she gazed upon a set of golden amber eyes framed by dark burgundy spikes, a long sharp nose, glistening white teeth, and the unmistakable majesty of a dragon.


	2. Chapter 2 An Unexpected Journey

_If I have to spend another day in this hotel room, I'm going insane._ Virginia's feet were killing her. They were twice their normal size and a constant source of agony. Her swollen baby that gave the impression that she was carrying triplets put so much pressure on her legs and back that even the most mundane of activities seemed like an Olympic trial. Her breasts were so comically large for her tiny frame she had to stop and laugh at herself. Eat your heart out Dolly Parton. She was already in her second, and final, month of her pregnancy, and if she were perfectly honest this baby could not come quickly enough. She took propped her feet up on some pillows and rubbed her belly praying for a moment without a human being sitting on her internal organs. As she lay on the couch she contemplated the last few months. Since Virginia couldn't work, what with her belly growing at an ungodly rate, Wolf decided he would go out and get some work. He was now working as the head chef at a small restaurant next to Central Park. And honestly what other job could be more suitable for a wolf.

Wolf strode across the room and went into a deep bow before Virginia. She chuckled as he cupped her face and kissed her soundly on the lips, then bent down and placed a kiss on her belly.

"I have an idea, why don't we have a date tonight?"

"That's really sweet Wolf, but I don't think I really feel like going out anywhere tonight."

"Who says we have to go anywhere? I'll arrange for a 'rrromantic' evening here in our room" Virginia couldn't help but laugh at the way Wolf made exaggerated hand gestures, and rolled his r's whenever he said words like romantic.

"I will arrange a beautiful dinner, better than the one we had in Kissing Town." He was grinning from ear to ear as proposed a wonderful romantic day for them to enjoy before Virginia went into labor.

"Sounds wonderful, I'm sure it will be perfect." Virginia smiled and kissed Wolf on his cheek, giggling when the wiry hair of his bread tickled her face.

"Sorry dear, I'll be sure to shave before our romantic dinner tonight. Now, you have to leave"

And with that, Virginia was being guided out the door by a very determined Wolf. Before she could even ask a single question as to his plans, Wolf led Virginia to the door where two elegantly dressed concierge attendants were waiting to take her down to the spa.

Virginia went into a dressing room, took of her long dress and wrapped herself in a thick white cotton robe. As she walked into the massage room, a plump, red-faced woman smiled brightly at her and helped her on to a very funny looking couch. The couch had a large curve in the middle that Virginia's belly could fit into. As Virginia laid her head down, the woman began to massage non-scented lotion onto Virginia's lower back, hips, and thighs; she reminded herself that she really had to thank her wonderful husband when she saw him again tonight. The couch was surprisingly comfortable, with lilac and white pillows scattered all around to help support Virginia's hips, shoulders, neck, and back. The kind woman would help Virginia adjust positions every so often, trying to keep her on her side as much as possible.

With the massage over, the concierge came and told her it was time for the next part of her relaxation day. Virginia was led to a clothing boutique. She felt slightly uncomfortable surrounded by so many decadent designer gowns, most of which she could never afford in a lifetime with her salary. Virginia could hear the sound of heels walking against the tile floor and saw two very thin women in black pencil skirts and matching smart black blazers. Both of the women gave Virginia a smile as they approached.

After a few hours, and hundreds of dresses, Virginia thought she had found the perfect one. She actually felt like Snow White or Cinderella. The long flowing chiffon gown was in a deep red color and had an empire waist with intricate gold treading. With the gown picked out Virginia was then taken to the salon where the stylists decided to curl her still quite short hair and used bobby pins to twist and tuck pieces of her hair, forming a crown around her head. The stylist then placed camellias and pink orchids throughout her hair. Never one for wearing makeup, Virginia opted to wear only a little black mascara and a red lip stain. After all the primping and pampering, it was time to meet Wolf for their date. She was escorted back to her by the floor valet, feeling a little silly walking around the halls of the hotel in such a formal gown. She looked every bit like a princess going to the ball to meet her Prince. She knocked on the door and was greeted by a very handsome Wolf. He was dressed in a classic black tuxedo; his thick black hair sleeked back, and a large wolfish grin plastered on his clean shaven face. "Wow! Huff, puff Virginia! You look…"

"Like a princess?" She leaned and kissed Wolf on the lips. As she entered the room she couldn't help but smile as Wolf's eyes followed every sway of her hips as she moved. Maybe this was the best idea Wolf has had yet. Virginia finally took in the care and detail he had put into decorating their suite. The lights were dimmed and beautiful candles, scented with lavender and honey, of all shapes and sizes illuminated the room. The whole suite seemed to shine with an ethereal golden light. Flowers and petals decorated the entire suite; some were in beautiful arrangements on the tables, counter, and shelves while others were simply scattered on the carpet and bed. The dining table, set with golden dinner plates, silverware, and goblets, had a large floral centerpiece in the middle, with small candles surrounding it.

"Wolf! This is beautiful! Did you do all this yourself?"

"Yes, do you really like it Virginia? I had some help from the man in the kitchens and the flowers were all suggestions from a florist in the hotel."

Virginia turned and kissed Wolf on the lips again, it was chaste yet there was so much love and appreciation in this one simple act. Wolf guided Virginia to the table and helped pull her chair out before sitting down himself. They enjoyed a wonderful 20 course meal, filled with cheese, fruits, soup, steak, fish, potatoes, vegetables, bread, sorbets, cakes, tarts, and pies. Wolf kept his eyes on Virginia the entire evening, gently holding her hand and occasionally placing a hand on her belly, using his thumb to slowly, gently caress her throughout the night.

"Oh, I have one more surprise! I almost forgot!" Wolf jumped out of his chair and ran to the desk in the living room.

"It's not another singing ring is it?" Although Virginia loved her ring it could be annoying after a while, so much so she had to keep it in a box on the mantle so no one would ever hear it.

"I taught the ring a new song. I heard it on a movie that I was watching today, but I changed the words a little bit. Go ahead little guy, just like we rehearsed." Wolf took out the little ring and placed it in front of Virginia. The soft pink pearl looked up at Virginia with its big googly eyes, gave her a shy coquettish smile and began to sing. Virginal half laughed and half cried as the ring began to sing _Heaven's Light_ from the _Hunchback of Norte Dame_. The ring finished its song and Virginia couldn't help but cry into her napkin. She gave Wolf a watery smile as Wolf wiped her cheek. Virginia was so moved by all his hard work and attention. She was reminded of his words to her in the forest,_ 'I will always catch you. And If I miss for any reason, I'll sit by your beside and nurse you back to health.'_

She leaned her face close to his their mouths only a few inches apart, their breaths synchronizing as they closed the gap between them…

_How I long to linger_

_On your sweetheart's finger…_

"Ok that's enough out of you!" Wolf closed the ring box again before the ring could continue.

Virginia walked to the record player and ran her fingers across the selection of music. She decided on a classic and began to play Etta James At Last. Smiling at Wolf she made the best curtsy that she was capable of and held out her hand to Wolf. He took her small hand in his and the music washed over them softly as they glided across the room.

Wolf twirled Virginia around the room, and she couldn't help but giggle at how utterly perfect the moment seemed, despite the occasionally pang of some unfamiliar feeling in her stomach. She finally remembered what she had been meaning to ask Wolf since earlier this morning.

_"Wolf, what do all these flowers mean?"_

_"Well, the snapdragons mean desire, the red rose means love," Wolf made sure to roll and extended the syllables in 'love' to give it that dramatic effect. "The amaryllis and stock are tributes to your splendid and everlasting beauty. The purple lilacs mean first love and the primrose means that I cannot live without you."_

_"And what about these ones, the ones you wanted me to put in my hair?"_

_"The pink orchids mean pure affection, and the camellias mean devotion."_

Virginia looked up at her Wolf. How could she have ever doubted this man? She never used to believe in fairytales, but with Wolf she was finally able to find the true love that she was always searching for. With Wolf, she could just let go, and sink into this blissful insanity called love, trusting that she was completely safe with her Wolf. Wolf placed his lips on Virginia's lips, when suddenly Virginia recoiled hissing in a sharp intake of breath. Wolf's eyes widened in fear but his fangs and claws prepared to defend her from any pain. Virginia was doing her best to keep her breathing under control, but every time she tried to stand up straight or take a deep breath she was shattered by blinding pain. It felt like someone was sitting on her chest, she couldn't breathe properly.

Virginia gripped onto the table as she lowered herself onto the floor, unable to stand any longer. Wolf ran to the phone and called down to the front desk requesting an ambulance. The next 20 minutes were the longest of both Wolf's and Virginia's life. Wolf tried his best to keep Virginia calm, but she was burning up and sweat was pouring down her face. He kept putting cool cloths on her head. When the ambulance finally arrived, Wolf carried Virginia to the downstairs lobby and into the ambulance. Within a few hours, Virginia was in the delivery room in blinding pain while Wolf paced back and forth wringing his hands to keep from pulling his own hair out. The doctor was trying her best to calm Virginia, but it was nearly impossible to even hear the woman over Virginia's screams and hard breathing. Virginia ground her teeth together. She tried to gather all the strength she had left to control her push. Sweat dripped down her face, her hands clenched the bars on her bed. Her eyes shut tight and teeth gnashed together as she desperately tried to push her baby out. After a few more pushes, Virginia could breathe a sigh of relief. She had given birth to her baby boy. She her baby's cry for the first time and heart understood that from this moment on, she was a different person. The nurses all gave their congratulations as they cleaned the newborn. Virginia smiled as Wolf made his way over and held her in his arms. It was time to give him his name. Virginia decided on Aiden, the Irish name meaning little fire.

After the baby was cleaned, the nurses gave him to Virginia and left them alone for their first bonding and feeding. Wolf wrapped his arms around Virginia's shoulders and watched as Virginia picked up their little boy and cradled him to her breast. She cooed and spoke softly to her son, but he never opened his eyes or even responded to her. It was then that she realized something was not quite right with Aiden.

_"Wolf, I think something is wrong!" Of course she thought to herself, her 'happy ever after' never lasted long._

_"What do you mean Virginia?" Wolf was genuinely confused by his wife's reaction._

_"The baby, he's not opening his eyes, he's not responding… it's like he can't even hear me" Virginia began scanning her son, checking for any abnormalities._

_"Well of course he can't hear you, Virginia! He won't even open his eyes for at least three weeks. Wolf pups are born deaf and blind."_

_Virginia stared her open wide, tears building in her eyes. Wolf placed a hand on her shoulder and rubbed in small circular motions until she began to relax._

_"Listen Virginia," Wolf took Virginia's small hand and held it, trying to give her some comfort, "for the first two weeks the pup will not really be able to see or hear. All he will really need is to be held and feed four to five times a day. After those two weeks are over, he will open his eyes, he still won't have perfect vision, but he will be able to see. He will also be able to hear, growl, howl, run, walk, and do all those other little things that cute little pups his age do…"_

_Virginia tried to remain calm as she imagined wolf running around the fields with a little baby howling up at the sky together, she didn't whether to laugh or cry._

_"Wait Wolf, you said two weeks, how will he be able to run or walk?"_

_"Wolf pups grow much faster than human babies do after two weeks he will look to be about 3 to 7 years old. Now the third, fourth, and fifth weeks are the most important to a young pup. This is when his hearing and eyesight becomes perfect. He'll be a true wolf then. He'll start to eat our food and be able to learn how to take care of himself. By this time he'll look to be about 12 to 15 years old."_

_"Wait, five weeks and my son will be a teenager! How long does it take for a wolf to become an adult?"_

_"Well the teenage years are the hardest, and the longest period in a young wolf's life. They last for about five years, and then the little will finally be a man!" Wolf puffed out his chest with a sense of pride, imagining his son becoming an alpha male. Virginia on the other hand was heartbroken._

_"So that's it. Five years is all I will have with my son before he's considered an adult and leaves us," Virginia looked down at the small bundle sleeping in her arms. Twenty years would have been too short a time to raise her son, but five years! The thought of only really having her son for five years broke her._

Virginia went numb. How could she contemplate only having a few years with her child? Virginia watched her son suckling at her breast and tried to imagine that this little boy would all too soon be a tall strong man within a few years, just like his father. It was then that Virginia realized that in all the time she had known Wolf, she never really discovered a lot about his family. Of course she knew that they were murdered, burned to death by villagers, but what were they like?

Wolf stayed there answering all the questions Virginia had about their baby, how fast he will grow, will he change into a wolf, will he have a hunger like the other wolves she had always heard off. They talked for hours until Virginia finally succumbed to exhaustion.

Wolf walked over to the chair in the room and put his black tux jacket back on and decided to head back to the hotel to pick up some clothes for Virginia and the baby. He kissed Virginia on the lips and then bent to kiss little Aiden on the forehead.

Virginia awoke with a start. She had seen the dragon again, standing on top of the abandoned icy mountain. She looked down to see Aiden asleep in her arms. She nestled him closer to her and felt peaceful. As she rocked him back and forth she heard birds were singing and chirping outside the hospital window, which the nurse had mercifully left open just a crack to let a little fresh air into the room. As she listened to melodic twinkling chimes, she realized that she could understand the bird's words.

_"Please let me in"_

Virginia vividly recalled that melodic voice. She recognized the magical birds that she saved from the gypsies, the same birds that once saved her life from the huntsman. Virginia slowly got out of the bed and made her way to the window, still holding on to little Aiden.

_"Hello Virginia, your father sent us to come and get you. You have to come back with us. The 9 kingdoms really are in a lot of trouble."_

_"What's happened? Is my father alright?"_

_"He is trapped inside Wendell's palace. The kingdoms are at war. You have to come with us."_

_"What's going on?"_

_"There is no time. We have to leave now."_

_"I can't leave without Wolf. Can you find him for me? He's at the Ritz-Carlton hotel."_

_One of the birds chirped his agreement and left to go find Wolf._

_"Come! We have to leave." __The other birds chirped in unison._

_"I can't just walk out of the hospital like this!" Virginia pointed down at the hospital gown and small baby in her arms._

_"We'll distract everyone. You have to go out the door quickly. We'll be right behind you"_

With that the birds went out of the room and into the hall. Virginia placed Aiden down on the bed and then went into the stall in her room and put the red gown she had been wearing the previous night back on. She picked up Aiden and waited for a sign from her little friends. Suddenly she heard screams from the patients and nurses on the floor. The birds had gone into the patient rooms a few halls down and began knock over dinner trays, and pull cords and plugs from the walls. The snatched key cards from doctors and pecked at every nurse and attending they could see. After the hall began to empty, Virginia slipped out of the room and headed toward the elevators. She reached the first floor and made her way toward the front doors. As she left the hospital, her little friends flew out the open window in her room and made their way toward Virginia.

"Follow us" They sang.

Virginia moved as fast as she could down the hospital walkway, across the road, and on toward Central Park.

Where are you Wolf?

Wolf had reached the Ritz-Carlton hotel without incident. As he began to throw Virginia's clothes and engagement ring into a backpack, he heard a familiar chirping noise. A bird flew in and stopped in front him,

_"I came from Virginia. You have to come back to the 9 kingdoms."_

_"Huff puff, where's Virginia?"_

_"She's in the park. We have a way to go back to the kingdom. Follow me"_

_Wolf was about to leave when a big abrupt knock came at the door._

_"Who is it?" cried Wolf._

_"Security, Mr. Wolfson. Can you open the door please?"_

"Ah cripes." Wolf looked outside the window, wondering if he could survive another big drop. He survived the last time Virginia had pushed him out the window, maybe he would be that lucky again. This time however there was nothing but concrete bellow him, and he was much higher of the ground.

Wolf decided he would have to make a run for it. Wolf went to the door and opened it, flashing a big wolfish grin at the burly security officer. "Hello sir, what seems to be the problem?"

The officer informed him that there was no reservation for any Mr. Wolfson and that he and Virginia would have to come in for questioning. Wolf reached into his pocket and pulled a small green gem. He held it in front of the security officer. As the man began to look at the gem, the gem began to crack like an egg and thick purple smoke began to billow out from the stone. As the man began to cough and choke on the smoke, Wolf pushed past the man and sprinted down the hall. As he came to the elevators, he was stopped by two more security officers. The men began to approach Wolf. All Wolf could think was his poor sweet Virginia, running in Central Park alone with his son. The beast began to come out in him. His eyes turned into a golden whiskey color, his nail began to sharpen, the muscles in his legs, chest, back, and arms began to coil and expand, and his fangs began to sharpen. Wolf lunged at the legs of one of the guards, knocking him to the ground. He hit the man with such a force that the officer hit his head against the tile floor, instantly knocked unconscious. The second officer jumped on top of Wolf's back and wrapped his arm around Wolf's neck. Wolf stood up, lifting the officer off the ground as though he weighed nothing and slammed the man against the wall of the hotel. The officer slumped down to the floor as Wolf made his way to the stairs. Wolf ran down the stairs jumping and leaping over the railing a few times until he made his way down to the ground floor. He weaved around the marble columns and groups of people in the lobby until finally he was out the door. The birds were waiting for him and led him into the park where Virginia was waiting.

As Virginia and Aiden finally came to the part of the forest where the portal was open waiting for her, she looked around trying to find Wolf. She could hear the familiar sounds of police sirens in the distance, seemingly coming closer and closer towards the park. Virginia couldn't help but think of Wolf, after all, the last time she was in this position, her father was being chased by police for armed robbery. As she stood there waiting, Aiden began to stir in her arms, whining and whimpering just like his father. She looked across the grassy knoll to see a figure in the distance coming toward her. The birds chirped, "He's coming, he's coming!" Wolf came bounding across the park toward, moving unbelievably quickly. The relief and joy Virginia felt was quickly followed by fear and apprehension when she saw police chasing after Wolf. As he got closer to his family Wolf yelled out to Virginia, "Go through the mirror now! I'll be right behind you! Go"

Virginia stepped through the portal with Aiden, and felt that familiar pull deep in her belly and a falling sensation as she and Aiden fell through one mirror after another. After travelling through, Virginia felt pushed forward out of the mirror and back onto solid ground. She lost her balance momentarily, felling unbelievably weak and light-headed and fell right into the arms of her dad, Tony.

"Virginia! Are you ok?" Tony looked his daughter over checking for any wounds.

Virginia wrapped her arm around her father's neck and pulled him in for a hug, being careful with baby. Tony's eyes finally fell on the little bundle in Virginia's arms. Tony couldn't quite get the words out; he couldn't help but just stare at the small boy being cradled by his mother.

"Dad, this is your grandson, Aiden." Virginia held up Aiden, offering him up for Tony to hold. Tony reached and picked up Aiden, a huge proud smile spreading across his face. It took a few moments for Tony to realize that Aiden's eyes weren't open, yet the little baby wasn't asleep.

"Is he ok? He won't look at me"

"Wolf says that wolf pups are born deaf and blind, but it only lasts for about two weeks."

"Wolf? Where is he?" It was then that Wolf appeared through the mirror as well. He stepped through, followed by the birds, and then quickly closed the portal to prevent any others from following behind him. He was red and huffing and puffing from all the running he had just done. It took him a while to finally settle down enough for him to realize that Virginia and the baby had made it safely. He began to check her and Aiden for injuries, just the same way Tony had done. Once sure that they were safe Wolf began to kiss her repeatedly as though he didn't believe that she was truly alright. Tony coughed loudly, trying to control himself from pulling that wolf off his daughter. Wolf turned toward the sound of the cough, and saw Tony standing there, "Tony! How are you grandpa?" Wolf ran up to him and gave him a big hug.

Tony rolled his eyes and grimaced but allowed Wolf to hug him anyway. "I'm fine, thank you. What did you do to my daughter, she looks like a mess."

"Oh thanks Dad!" Virginia couldn't take too much umbrage though. She had seen better days. Her dress was torn and dirty, her hair was unwashed and knotted resembling a bird nest, and she looked very pale and tired.

"I didn't mean it like that…." he said trying to pacify his daughter before turning to Wolf, "But you were supposed to take care of her!"

"Don't start with me grandpa! We've had a very long day!"

"Will both of you stop!" Virginia couldn't take their fighting and bickering just yet. They both turned towards her mumbling "I'm sorry".

Virginia walked up to her dad and took little baby Aiden out of his arms, "It's really good to see you Dad! What's been going on? Why didn't you come home?"

It was then that Virginia and Wolf realized how thin and pale Tony had gotten. He looked as though he aged years since the last time they saw him, "Something is happening here Virginia…" Tony leaned to whisper to her, as though he was afraid someone was listening to the conversation.

"What's wrong?"

"It's the wolves." A voice boomed from the doorway. The three of them turned to find Prince Wendell standing in the doorway. He looked older, just like Tony. The young Prince looked like a shadow of this former self. The young, handsome prince, who was so quick to smile and laugh before, now looked like a proverbial Atlas, with the weight of the world on his shoulders. As much as they had missed Wendell, Virginia and Wolf were still trying to understand and contemplate the prince's words. Virginia turned to watch and tried to gauge his reaction, but Wolf had gone completely still.

Tony moved in between Wolf and Virginia, grabbing her by the shoulders he looked down into her eyes with a look of absolute fear, "You have no idea what's been going on here Virginia. The wolves have gone into some kind of rebellion. They've been destroying the kingdom ever since you left, burning villages, killing people, kidnapping children…."

Virginia looked to Wolf, who looked like he was in pain. "How do you know it's the wolves? It could be the trolls?" Virginia was desperately trying to find another explanation.

Prince Wendell moved closer to the group. "Let me show you something…" Prince Wendell moved into the throne room, motioning for Virginia and the rest to follow him. The cold dark, grey throne room bared no resemblance to the light, colorful room where Wendell was crowned King not so long ago. Candles gave the room a foreboding reddish glow. Five full length mirrors surrounded the room, each one created in a different style. The center of the room was dominated by a long table carved from a deep reddish mango wood. The table came up to Virginia's waist. The legs were shaped like claws and ornately decorated with the symbols representing each of the 9 kingdoms: a glass slipper, wolves, beanstalks, apples, cornucopias, roses, elves, snowflakes, and diamonds. The top of the table was ornate as well, decorated with a carving of a map of the 9 kingdoms. The four heroes gathered around the table where Prince Wendell picked up a stack of letters and began to explain, "A few weeks ago I received this letter from Queen Red Riding Hood the 3rd. In the letter, she begs me to send troops to the 2nd Kingdom, claiming that four of her best Red Riders have been found dead in the forests. A short while after that, Queen Gretel the Great sent me this letter, claiming that 9 children have been kidnapped from their beds in the dead of night. This letter is from the Snow White Memorial Prison, stating that all the wolf prisoners miraculously escaped about a week ago. The rest of these are letters from the 1st, 5th, and 7th kingdoms, all claiming that they have spotted wolves in their kingdom and that they had had young girls gone missing."

Wolf was now livid, "OH COME ON! Look, I'll admit, we wolves have a voracious appetite. We might slaughter a couple of chickens, or lambs. But we never eat little kids!"

Prince Wendell moved to stand beside Wolf and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Wolf, I don't believe this is the work of the wolves alone. They had to have help from someone very powerful. Some of those wolves that escaped from Snow White's prison could be responsible for the pillaging of farms, but they could not single-handedly kill the Riders or kidnap the children."

"Who are the Red Riders?" Virginia asked after she finally calmed Aiden down.

Wolf rolled his eyes at the mention of the women which caused Wendell to laugh slightly before responding, "They are the official messengers of the 9 kingdoms. Queen Red takes the best, bravest, and brightest young girls, usually around 3 or 4 years old, from every village and brings them to the 2nd kingdom. There these young girls will be educated in reading, writing, arithmetic, horseback riding, sword fighting, hunting, tracking, herbalism, and how to use a bow and arrow. When these girls reach the age of 14, they are officially inducted as one of the Red Riders. They don a red cape, which they will wear the rest of their life, and begin their lives as a police force and messenger system for the whole of the nine kingdoms."

"Yeah, sure, just another way little Red keeps the wolves down. Treating us like criminals!" Wolf couldn't stop huffing and puffing as he talked about Red Riding Hood.

"Oh come on Wolf, I'm sure she's not that bad" Virginia tried to soothe her husband.

"Actually Virginia," Wendell looked to Wolf as he spoke, "I think Wolf may be right. After my coronation, I commanded that wolves be pardoned. At first Queen Red was overjoyed at the news. She began to make plans to integrate the Red Riding Hood Academy. She even spoke of hiring wolves as combat trainers. Then everything changed. She became stricter on the rules in her kingdom, preventing wolves from traveling, arresting them on the smallest offense, and treating them more like animals. It started at the same time as all the kidnappings."

"I knew it!" shouted Wolf. "See, I told you Virginia. It's all politics!"

"So what do you want us to do? And if you don't think the wolves are doing this alone, then who is killing all these people and kidnapping children?" Virginia said in between yawning. Her whole body was tired and her mind felt slow and weak.

Wendell gave her a sympathetic smile, "We can discuss that first thing tomorrow. I haven't even greeted you and Wolf properly." Wendell shook Wolf's hand, to which Wolf responded by giving Wendell a hug and pat on the back. He then moved to Virginia and lifted one of her hands and placed a chaste kiss on the top of it.

"How is your baby?"

"Good, he's strong." Virginia beamed proudly at the mention of her son.

"Well, I can take you to your room if you'd like?"

"Sure," Virginia turned to Tony "I guess we'll have to catch up tomorrow?" She smiled up at her old man, wondering how he had been getting on here all by himself.

"Don't worry about it. Just go get some rest," Tony gave her a kiss on the forehead and pinched his grandson's cheek, "And you little man, we'll get to know each other more tomorrow. I'll tell you all about your grandfather, Anthony the Valiant."

Virginia chuckled as she followed Wendell toward her room, Wolf following closely behind her. After they reached there room, Wendell looked at the small family "I'm sorry for doing this to you, Virginia, Wolf. But you three are the only ones who can help save our kingdom."

Virginia patted Wendell's shoulder, "It's alright, and we'll talk more tomorrow."

"Goodnight Virginia, Goodnight Wolf."

"Goodnight Princey" Wolf shouted as he entered the bedroom.

"Goodnight Wendell" Virginia walked into her room, closing the door behind her.

After she put Aiden in his crib, she went to unpack the backpack that Wolf carried with him through the portal. As she looked into the bag, she had to suppress the urge to smack Wolf. Wolf had packed a bunch of onesies for the baby, but only packed one outfit for Virginia, her favorite blue sweater, brown boots, white tank top, and black skinny jeans. The rest of the clothes he packed for her were lingerie.

She went over to the bed perfectly ready to chew her husband out when she found him passed out on their bed. She almost forgot why she was angry when she saw him sleeping, his mouth slightly open, clutching and cuddling a pillow. She laughed softly, turned out the lights, and crawled into bed herself. As she fell asleep she dreamed another strange dream. She was in the 2nd kingdom surrounded by the bodies of wolves and young women in red hoods. Virginia could see her breath as she stood out in the cold. The trees seemed to be howling in pain as everything around her began to freeze and die. Virginia looked to her side and saw Wolf sitting against a tree, frozen to death. She moved toward him and reached out to take his hand. The last thing she saw before she slowly gave in to the cold was a blinding light, like a flame growing bigger and bigger thawing the barren wasteland.


	3. Chapter 3 Wendell

As Virginia awoke the next morning, she had the feeling the last 24 hours had been a dream. Her body ached, and the warmth of the brown fur blanket that she had tucked under her chin made her not want to get out of bed. She was still in that hazy realm between the dream world and reality, not yet awake but not fully asleep. Goose bumps began to cover her, as her body slowly began to register the cold chill that blew in from the open window. She opened her eyes to look at the beautiful mosaic above her head. The mosaic depicted one of the most famous scenes from fairytale legend: the moment that Snow White was resurrected by her Prince. The mosaic was divided into different panels, each one illustrating a different scene in the story. The first scene showed Snow White opening the door of the dwarves' cottage to welcome in an old peddler woman. There Snow White, with her blood red lips, took a bite out of the crisp, ripe poisoned apple, knowing that she was about to die at the hands of her evil stepmother. The next scene showed Snow White lying in her glass and gold inlaid coffin, the seven dwarves surrounding her small body weeping in lament for the loss of their friend, mother-figure, and only companion. Next was the iconic scene of the Prince walking up to Snow White's coffin and bending close to the Princess placed a soft kiss to her cold unmoving lips. The last panel was perhaps the happiest and saddest scene. It showed the wedding of Snow White, a glorious and jubilant moment for the 9 kingdoms, followed by the sentencing and punishment of the Evil Queen. The panel showed Snow White and her prince sitting at their wedding table, while the dwarves took a pair of iron cast shoes and placed them into a fire. After the iron began to glow a sinister red, the shoes were placed upon the feet of the Evil Queen, who was then forced to dance for Snow White and the Prince.

A chill ran up Virginia's spine, she turned to reach for Wolf but found the bed empty. He could not have been gone too long since his spot in the bed was still warm and smelled faintly of musk, saffron, and wood.

"Wolf?" she called out and yet no response came. Virginia swung her legs over the side of the bed onto the cold floor, raising her arms over her head, stretching the muscles in her back and neck. She headed out into the corridor trying to remember the way she had come with Wendell and Wolf last night. She began heading in the direction of the one place that could keep Wolf out of her bed, the kitchens. As she navigated the winding marble staircases, she remembered the kitchens were located right above the dungeons (the same ones that she, Wolf, and Tony used to sneak into the castle only two months ago). Soon enough she heard Wolf's deep rich voice chattering away excitedly. She stepped into the bright warmth of the kitchens and was filled with smells of bacon, fresh baked bread, firewood burning in giant red clay ovens, coffee, nutmeg, cinnamon, and brown sugar, all working in tandem to create a wonderful aromatic experience. Virginia allowed herself to close her eyes and imagined that this what being at home must smell like. She could hear the crackling of the crust on the bread as Wolf began to slice into it. She could feel the heat from the numerous stoves and ovens as they worked to help Wolf create his masterpieces. She opened her eyes and saw Wolf standing there, cradling Aiden in one arm and flipping over bacon in the other.

"Now this is important Aiden, you have to keep turning the bacon or else it will burn. And we wouldn't want that, would we my little sausage?" Wolf tapped Aiden on his little button nose as he spoke to him, making Virginia suppress a giggle at the big bad wolf behaving so motherly and affectionate towards their son. Wolf continued talking to his son as he cooked; "Now your grandfather Tony, he couldn't cook bacon if his life depended on it. No Sir! He always burns it! But your mother Virginia," Wolf rolled his eyes into the back of his head for emphasis here, "Your mother could do anything! She is perfect, a vision, goddess among mortal women! Even if she does have a habit of listening in to people's conversations," Wolf turned to look directly at Virginia as he said this.

"How did you know I was standing here?"

"Virginia, I could smell you have way across the hall, could hear your footstep on the stairs."

Virginia walked up to him and Aiden, "What are you two up to?"

"Just cooking breakfast," Wolf began to lower the heat on all the different ovens and stoves. "Come on, that's breakfast done! Time to go meet old Princey boy and your dad," Wolf put his arm around Virginia's slim shoulders and began to lead her out the room.

As they walked through the gilded white halls of the palace, Wolf began to think more and more about what the Prince had said last night. He wondered how the wolf packs would be taking the assault on their character. Wolf could still clearly recall the vast lowland forests. He could smell the air, fresh from the spring showers. He could see the tall robust moss covered oak trees towering endless, casting a shadow over the forest floor. He remembered bounding and leaping over moss covered logs as he ran through the forest with the other wolf pups. As he moved further into the forest, the scenery begins to change. The forest changed from full lush green oaks to dark bare twisting trees, with roots that seem to jut up from the ground of their own accord wanting to trip you.

"Wolf, are you listening?" Virginia had stopped walking and abruptly turned toward her husband. She had never seen him so quiet.

"I'm sorry Virginia, I must have dosed off. What were you saying?"

"I was asking you what you think about all this."

"I don't know. But I'd love to give Red a piece of my mind, that hypocritical temptress!"

"What are you talking about?" Virginia could remember seeing Red Riding Hood at Wendell's coronation. She was haughty, self-centered, and rather abrupt but she wasn't evil.

"You don't really think she could be doing all this do you?"

"No Virginia. But I did expect her to put a fight. That little temptress has hated wolves for years."

"For years? You mean she hasn't always hated wolves? I thought Red Riding Hood hated wolves since they ate her grandmother."

"No, that was the original Red, Queen Red Riding Hood the First. But this Queen, she used to love wolves. She would go into the forest as a little girl and play with the wolf pups. She even wanted to put male wolves into the Red Riding Hood Academy to teach the young Riders."

Virginia was shocked to hear this news, "What changed?"

"Well, it was a failed romance, though most of the Red Riders will deny the story and even Queen Red herself never talks about it."

Virginia looked at Wolf to see if he was joking, but he looked completely serious. I wonder what the Red Riding Hood story would have been like with that little plot twist she thought. She was just about to ask Wolf what happened between Red and her failed love, but had to wait for another time. Wolf guided Virginia through the large carved oak doors that led to the dining room. The walls of the dining room were a beautiful cerulean color, with gold borders and trim. The long table running in the middle of the length of the dining room comfortably sat at least 200 people, and yet there were only two men sitting there, Wendell and Tony. Virginia, Wolf, and Aiden made their way over to sit next to them. Tony seemed to be in much better spirits than he had been the previous night. Even Wendell seemed more at ease but his smile did not quite meet his eyes. He was still toiling with something in his mind, like a man with a secret, trying to deduce whether he should share it or not. As everyone took their seats, waiters began to bring food to the table, little Aiden was content with being nursed by his mother.

"I want to thank you for your help in the kitchen this morning Wolf," Wendell was tucking into his breakfast with fervor. "I'm even happier to see you didn't put any troll dust in here this time." Wendell smiled coyly at his friend.

"Well, don't speak too soon Princey boy. There is still lunch and dinner." Wolf was ravenous and had already devoured half the food within a few minutes.

"So…" Virginia thought this would be as good a time as any to ask, "What exactly is your plan Wendell? You said you needed our help. How can we help you save your kingdom?"

"I'm afraid it is not my kingdom that needs saving, it's the whole of the 9 kingdoms. The last time we had our little adventure, we only traveled through a small portion of the 9 kingdoms, but this time…" Wendell did not know truthfully what would be required of the heroes this time, or how great their sacrifices will have to be. "Firstly I will need you to go to the 2nd kingdom and talk to the wolf packs, try to find out what they know and extend our help to them, our protection if need be."

"Wolf packs? How many are there?"

"There are 6." Wolf had been so silent his sudden outburst had startled everyone. "Each pack has its own alphas, territory, and motto. They all inhabit the dark forests in the 2nd kingdom, though some individuals will travel away from their pack occasionally."

Wendell smiled, "This is why I need you Wolf. I need to send someone that the wolf packs will trust."

"I don't think that they will listen to me." Wolf desperately wanted to help but he knew there was no way that the packs will accept an outsider like him.

Wendell placed a hand on Wolf's shoulder and gave a reassuring squeeze. "I trust in you completely Wolf. Besides, you are no mere wolf to these packs. The word has spread that you are the reason why they were all pardoned. You are a kind of hero to these packs. If they will listen to anyone, it will be you. But there is more that I need from you. I need someone to go inside the Red Riding Hood Academy and talk to Queen Red herself. She won't respond to her mirror or to any of my letters. This is where I was hoping you could help, Virginia."

"Mirror? I didn't know she had a magic mirror. Don't ever remember reading that in the fairy tales."

"I asked the dwarves to make ten magic mirrors. Five of these mirrors are in my throne room, and each one allows me to directly contact a different King or Queen. The other five mirrors were given to Queen Red, Queen Cinderella, The Naked Emperor, Queen Rapunzel, and the Elf King. This way we can maintain open communication and peace throughout the 9 kingdoms. The only kingdoms that I have no contact with are the Troll Kingdom, the Dwarf Kingdom, and the Ice Queen's Kingdom." All the information was beginning to make Virginia dizzy. She had never really appreciated just how vast the 9 kingdoms were, how different each territory could be. It was so easy to think of all this as some fairytale but this was a story about real people trying to rule countries and maintain order and civility.

Wendell continued, "Queen Red and I were the ones who came up with the idea for the mirrors, but then she started to change. She began to pull away from all of us, cracking down on the wolves and not responding to any of my calls."

"How am I supposed to help?" Virginia couldn't see why this Queen would agree to sit down and talk to Virginia about her problems.

"I was hoping you could accept a job working as a teacher at the Red Riding Hood Academy."

"What?!" Oh great! She hadn't forgotten the whole shepardess debacle, now they want her to be a school teacher?

"I'm not a school teacher Wendell! I'm barley getting the hang of being a mom."

"You wouldn't have to teach anything beyond reading and writing. There is a job opening for the older girls, it will be perfect. Besides you could get more information about what is being taught inside that school. And you will be in close contact with Queen Red."

"And what about my son?" Virginia looked down at Aiden now sleeping in her arms.

"I don't intend on throwing you out of the palace anytime soon Virginia. Your son is a wolf, correct? That means he will grow at a fast rate. We can wait a few weeks or months, when Aiden is grown you can all go together. But you won't be able to take him into the school. The red Riding Hood Academy forbids any males from ever entering. Aiden will have to stay with Wolf."

"No." Virginia was not going to agree to anything that would involve being separated from her son. She grew up without a mother, she had to live with that pain and rejection for 24 years, and she will be damned if that ever happened to her son. He will not ever know what losing a parent feels like, not while Virginia had a choice.

"Virginia, please…" Wendell tried to reason with her but it was of no use.

"Look Wendell, you can't ask Virginia to do this. It's too dangerous she could get hurt." Tony was beginning to wish that Virginia didn't come back. "She just had a baby, what are you trying to do to her?"

"It's ok Dad, I got this. But thank you." She smiled slightly at her dad before turning back to Wendell. "I'm sorry Wendell, but I'm not leaving my son, and I'm not putting him in danger. The answer is no."

Wendell sat back in his chair, pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. Wolf looked between the Prince, Virginia, and Aiden. "We could visit the wolf packs, but I agree with Virginia. We're not going anywhere if we are not all together."

To be honest Virginia didn't really want to go to the wolf packs either. "Are you sure you want to go there Wolf?"

"The wolves are not as dangerous as everyone thinks they are. I'll admit we're not saints but we're not mindless killers either. And besides the wolves won't attack one of their own kind, well unless you are trying to become the new alpha, in which case you have to fight and beat the old leader of the pack."

This did nothing to soothe Virginia's nerves. Wendell finally spoke again:

"Look you don't have to make any decisions now. But we need to have a plan to help the people. We have already had so many deaths and kidnappings. And if the farms continue to be pillaged and burned then famine will begin to set in. We need your help Virginia, please just consider it."

Virginia looked down at her baby. She wanted to help, but not at the expense of her family. She looked up and simply nodded at Wendell, she would at least consider it. Maybe it would be a good idea for Aiden to go see the wolf packs and be with people of his own kind.

"Here's a question I never thought I'd ask," Tony looked at Wendell and Wolf as he spoke, "What is the real story about Little Red Riding Hood and the big bad wolf?"

Wolf laughed slightly at the big bad wolf comment before answering, "The story is not that different from the fairytale. When Queen Red the first was a young girl, on the verge of womanhood, her grandmother made her a red cloak. The grandmother was a mystic and had enchanted the cloak with a very powerful spell that would protect Little Red. The cloak masked Little Red's beauty and shielded her from the evils of the world. One day, the grandmother invited Little Red to her cottage buried deep in the woods of the 2nd kingdom. As the young girl traveled through the forest, she came upon a very handsome debonair young man. The young man helped little Red, who had gotten terribly lost, find her way out of the forest and back onto the path towards Grandmother's house. Now this man fell in love with Little Red as soon as he saw her. She was mysterious, even under that magic cloak that masked most of her beauty. There was something about this young girl that the young man found intoxicating." Wolf paused here to look at Virginia, allowing his eyes to roam up and down her body before Tony's coughing and protests brought him back to the story. "Sorry, Tony. Anyway this young man was actually a wolf, and he stalked Little Red for a while before running ahead of her, trying to beat her to Grandmother's house. When the wolf got to the little cottage, he knocked on the door and introduced himself to the Grandmother. He charmed his way into the house and before the little old bitty could even realize what was happening the wolf killed her and ate her."

"Jesus you mean that actually happened!" Tony looked like he was about to lose his breakfast. "What the hell is wrong with you people?!"

"I thought you said wolves don't do those things" Virginia was now looking at Wolf with suspicion, remembering the day Wolf first met her own grandmother.

"Well we don't anymore. This was back when wolves were more animals than human. We have evolved since then. Most wolves are too respectable for that kind of behavior. Wolves have been breeding with humans for decades now; we are not as feral as we used to be. But there are some that hunt humans for sport. The ones in the Snow White Memorial Prison for example, besides me of course, are more beast than man. Wolves don't want to be criminals. We are not criminals."

At this speech Tony seemed to relax but only slightly, "So let me guess, Red gets there, wolf eats her, and the huntsman cuts the wolf open and saves them."

Wolf looked at Tony as though he was crazy. "Don't be ridiculous Tony. When Little Red came to the cottage, she noticed that something was strange. She went to the window and looked inside the house but didn't see her grandmother. Suddenly the wolf came up behind her. 'Hello my dear'. Little Red turned and saw the handsome stranger. 'What are you doing here? Where is my grandmother?'

'Oh she is here somewhere. She just went out into the woods to pick some berries.'

Little Red knew that the stranger was lying because she was carrying a basket filled with berries, wine, and other foods for her grandmother. It was then that Red noticed the small amount of blood on the strangers sleeve and neck. The young girl inched towards the logs that her grandmother would cut for the winter. She moved and sat down on the stump where her grandmother chopped wood and was relieved to find the axe lying on the ground next to her.

'Well, well, well stranger' said Little Red 'You must have some powerful legs to have beat me here. You must have ran very fast indeed.'

'Oh yes my dear, all the faster to reach you my dear'

Little Red put down the hood of her cloak and gazed up at the wolf.

'I never noticed your big beautiful eyes. What big eyes you have!'

'All the better to see you my dear'

'And your arms, my what big arms you have!' Little Red batted her eyelashes at the wolf.

'The better to hold you with my dear' the wolf began to lick his teeth and lips, relishing in the idea of what he would do with the girl.

'And your mouth, those teeth. What big teeth you have!'

'The better to eat you with my dear' the wolf flashed a smile at the young girl.

'Come closer to me stranger. I would be closer to you, to see you better' Little Red raised her hand up to the wolf, beckoning him to her.

As the wolf stalked toward, Little Red leaned back against the stump, and discreetly slipped her hand toward the axe. As the wolf finally reached her, he knelt down between Little Red's legs and said 'DO you see me know my dear?'

Little Red replied yes, and then she took hold of the axe and swung it into the wolf's side, slicing through him. The wolf jumped back, howling in pain. Little Red raised the axe again and swung it across the wolf's chest slashing him down to the breastbone. The wolf fell to his knees, and Little Red kicked him in the chest pushing him onto the ground. She stood over his body and looked down at him, 'This is for my grandmother' she said before she swung the axe a last time and took the wolf's head off."

"Jesus Christ!" Tony sat there stunned. Virginia was looking at Wolf with a mix of horror and interest.

"So Red Riding Hood saved herself. Is this why she became Queen?" asked Virginia.

"Yes. The wolf she killed was called Marcus. He was the leader of the wolves in that time long ago. He lived for killing and pillaging. With his death, and the pack was leaderless, the wolves became very easy to hunt. Little Red led the charge, exterminating most of the wolves, and bringing peace back to the forest and to the 2nd kingdom. She became Queen of the Northern part of the 2nd kingdom, Queen Gretel becoming Queen of the south, and for a while all was well. Queen Red the First then set to building the Red Riding Hood Academy and she trained young girls from across the 9 kingdoms to become fierce warriors and messengers."

"So if she killed most of the wolves then how are you guys still around?" Tony was becoming more worried as the story continued. Maybe he shouldn't have let Virginia go with Wolf alone.

"The wolves became more human. The wolves that survived the attacks had to learn how to blend in with society to survive. Many of them married normal human men and women, and had children. Some of these marriages lasted; most of them were over as soon as the spouse realized the person they married was a wolf. Slowly we built our population up. We became more civil, educated. We were not just animals; we formed families, cities, jobs. But the stigma of being a wolf remained. Sometimes I think nothing will ever change it."

Wolf looked like a beaten man as he thought about his people. Virginia couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for him and for all the wolves who must be suffering, especially if they are innocent of these allegations and crimes.

"But things were starting to look up. Little Queen Red the Third was going to be our ticket into the light. We had an ally in her. I never got to meet her personally though. Unfortunately, I ended up in prison."

"Yeah why were you in prison?" Tony was looking at Wolf like he was trying to hypnotize him into telling the truth.

"Just a little lamb poaching." Wolf tried his best to look innocent.

"Wait you said Queen Red the Third was going to be an ally. How?" Wendell looked at Wolf with new interest.

"You don't know? She was going to take a king. A wolf!"

"What!?" Wendell's eyes seemed to pop out of his head like an ACME character. "You are joking! How do you know about this?!"

"All the wolves knew. She would go into the forest and meet her beloved every night. She would spend most of her time there at night."

Wendell still couldn't believe what Wolf was saying was true. If it was, it would shake the 9 kingdoms, and rewrite their entire history.

The seriousness of their talk was interrupted by a loud whining noise and whimpering from Aiden. Virginia smiled at her son while Wolf looked on beaming with joy, "I think this little guy has been inside for too long. Come on little chap, let's go out for a walk," Wolf picked up his son and headed for the doors. As Virginia got up to follow them she looked to her dad and Wendell, "Would you guys like to join us?"

Wendell politely declined, saying the work of running the kingdom never ended. Tony however accepted readily and happily. "I'll go! I need to spend more time with my little girl and my grandson."

The four of them walked down the corridor, out the large white French doors, and went out into the most beautiful gardens that Virginia had ever seen. The brilliant light green grass was crisp and soft under their feet. Archways made of twisted red roses were scattered around the gardens. Paths of cobblestone buried into the grass led them further into this green wonderland. All around them were flowers of all different color and sizes. They were surrounded by tall green bells of Ireland, pale yellow and white calla lilies, brilliant red amaryllis, and bright yellow chrysanthemum, daffodils and sunflowers. Virginia felt so at home surrounded by this nature. She felt the soft drops of morning dew on the grass and she was filled with wonderful sweet smells of the beautiful flowers around her. They walked along the little path before they came to a little pond. Virginia and Tony sat down on the bench and watched Wolf run around the gardens carrying Aiden on his shoulders. Aiden was whimpering with joy as he clung to his father. Virginia turned her attention to the pond. Floating delicately on the water was dark green lily pads that carried white lilies around the pond. Around the pond grew beautiful white narcissus flowers, which Virginia always liked especially after she learned the story behind them. Curly willows, baby's breath, light purple lavender plants and hyacinths, deep royal purple and light blue delphinium and hydrangeas, pure white gardenias, pink bells of larkspur, orchids, and peonies all grew up around the pond giving the entire space an ethereal glow. This was too beautiful to be real. She tried to take in every detail of the garden, playing with the soft white petals of the pearl blossom flowers that grew around her. Her small sanctuary was broken when she began to register the voice of her dad trying to talk to her.

"Are you still here, Virginia?" Tony waved his hand in front of her face.

"I'm here dad." She smiled up at her dad. She hadn't realized just how much she had missed him until now.

"You know, when you smile like that, you remind me so much of your mother. You got all her good looks, and her smile." He looked down at his little girl. She was of course so different from Christine. She was stronger, braver, and had a heart of gold.

"I can't remember the last time you talked about mom like that." She had always heard stories from her grandmother, but not her dad.

"Well, I guess it's easier to talk about her now, now that all those questions and secrets are finally out in the open. Did I ever tell you how I proposed to your mother?"

"No." Virginia's face was now beaming with a bright smile. She wanted to hear more happy stories.

"Well it wasn't exactly how I imagined it would be, though your mother didn't mind. I was going to take your mother away for a weekend. Nowhere special just down to Atlantic City, it was the cheapest airfare I could get. I thought we could take a walk along boardwalk, go to a nice dinner. I had the ring picked out and carried it in my jacket pocket for three weeks before I finally gave it to her. It wasn't much just a small little diamond, so small it was almost invisible to the naked eye. Anyways we got the airport. We checked in, got our tickets, and we went to the security checkpoint, we walked through the little metal detector things, and the damn thing kept going off whenever I walked through!"

Virginia eyes lit up, she could already imagine what the problem was.

"I forgot that I still had the ring in my jacket pocket. Well now those security guards kept looking at me like I'm some kind of criminal! This big hulking troll came up to me and asked me to step aside so they can search me."

Virginia was now trying to suppress her laughter, and was nearly crying from the effort.

"He waved that little wand thing over my arms, legs, and finally he waved it over my chest. He asked me to take the jacket off. I did and then he started searching the damn thing. He pulled out the ring box, put it in front of my face and asked me what it was. Well your mother was now standing behind me; I couldn't say what it was without your mother hearing. I told the guy that couldn't tell him. He started calling all his other security buddies over and asked me to open the box. I told him I'd rather not do that. At this point I'm pretty sure the security people were pressing some kind of panic button. The man kept asking me to open it, I kept refusing. Your mother was now looking at me like I had lost my mind. She kept saying 'Tony, are you crazy? Do whatever they tell you to do". I panicked, I was sweating bullets. I finally just gave up. I turned around, grabbed your mother's hand, fell to my knees, and screamed at your mother, 'CHRISTINE WILL YOU MARRY ME'"

Virginia could no longer contain her laughter. She began laughing so hard that tears were streaming down her face. Tony couldn't help but join in. As they finally settled down from their endorphin furled high, Wolf came over with a tired out little Aiden.

"It's getting dark should be around dinnertime. Wanna go back inside and eat?"

Tony was in such a good mood he couldn't help but tease Wolf a bit, "Always thinking with your stomach, eh Wolf."

They made their way back towards the palace. After a dinner filled with all kinds of fish, steak, potatoes, squash, tomatoes, mushrooms, all washed down with cider for Tony, Wendell, and Wolf and milk for Virginia, they all decided to retire. Virginia and Wolf went up to their room, and placed little Aiden down on their bed where her could sleep between his two parents. Just as Virginia and Wolf were about to crawl into bed themselves, a knock came on the door. Virginia opened it to find Tony standing there.

"Hey dad, what's up?"

"I wanted to give you a present. Here it's not much but I thought it could help you." Tony handed her a small dark brown leather bound journal. She could smell the fresh parchment paper, and as she ran her fingers over the cool soft leather she noticed the journal was engraved with the initial V.A. L.

"Virginia Anne Lewis. It's perfect, thank you dad." She stood on her toes and kissed her dad on his stubbled cheek.

"It's just something I thought you could use. Get all your thoughts down on paper. Well, I'll let you get some sleep. I love you Virginia."

"I love you too dad. Goodnight."

"Goodnight"

Virginia closed the door and walked towards the bed she found Wolf fast asleep. She crawled under the warm soft covers, and instead of sleeping she found herself writing. Relishing in the sound of the quill as it danced across the parchment.


	4. Chapter 4 A Visitor

_September 5, 2000_

_Dear Diary,_

_It's been a long time since I've had my own diary. I can't believe my Dad actually bought me this. But I am glad to have something to do during these restless nights when I can't sleep. Wolf is whimpering and snoring next to me as usually, he looks so peaceful I never have the heart to wake him up with my problems. I don't know what's been wrong with me lately. I keep having these dreams. I didn't have the heart to tell him about the dream I had last night. I don't know what it means and I can't ask anyone. Maybe we shouldn't go to the 2__nd__ kingdom, maybe it's not too late to go back to New York, open our restaurant, and live happily ever after. But I know we can't. I saw Wolf's face when Wendell mentioned the Wolf packs. He misses that life, misses being around his own people. His heart broke when he thought about the wolves suffering. I can't stand by and do nothing, especially not when this is Aiden's family too. It may be a good idea for Aiden to be around his own people. God only knows what kind of changes he might go through, lord I don't even want to think about puberty._

_September 12, 2000_

_Dear Diary,_

_We've been at Prince Wendell's palace for a week now. Wolf has been keeping himself busy either playing with Aiden or working in the kitchens. Dad has been working on his latest invention, bouncy castles. Although this business plan never really took off in New York, the people in the 4__th__ kingdom loved the novelty of the idea. Dad already had a long list of orders. Wendell has been more distant lately, he seems to always be looking into this magic mirrors, trying to contact Queen Red. Most of my time has been spent with another little prince, my Aiden. Wolf says it will still be another week before Aiden's eyes open and he finally gains his hearing; though he did warn me that he will only be able to see blurry colors, no lines or shapes for at least another week. And he will be able to start eating soft foods along with breast feeding. Wolf said his teeth will be coming out next week as well, and I am not looking forward to getting bit while feeding. I can't really complain though, I'm completely in love with this kid. It's amazing how quickly and sharply it hits you. I never knew I could fall in love so easily or so fully. _

"Virginia, what are you doing?" Wolf stood in the doorway, rubbing his tired half-closed eyes. Virginia was sitting in a larger comfy leather arm-chair and craned her head to look over shoulder to look at her husband. He looked devilishly handsome with his messy black her sticking up on all sides, his bare chest, and his old flannel pajama bottoms.

"I'm just writing, couldn't sleep"

"Oh I'm sorry love. Did I keep you up? I know I snore but I never thought you minded"

Virginia laughed lightly, "No Wolf, I just couldn't sleep. Come on, let's go back to bed." Virginia grabbed Wolf's hand and led him back to their king side bed. She crawled under the covers and pulled the white cotton sheets and black fur blanket up to her chin. Wolf smiled down her, flashing all his brilliant white teeth, looking every inch like the big bad wolf. He let out a deep low growl and pounced on top of Virginia, who giggled and hid under the blankets. As Wolf tickled her sides and slowly pulled down the cover to show her beautiful face. He held her arms to her side and looked down into her big blue eyes. With a speed that Virginia couldn't fathom he bent his head down and captured her lips. Virginia slid her hands up his arms and across his wide strong shoulders. She wove her hands into his hair melting into the kiss. Wolf slanted his lips over Virginia's, brushing her bottom lip with the tip of his tongue. He slowly, languidly caressed her with his tongue. Her mouth still tasted like the wine and dark chocolate they had for dessert that night. Wolf left Virginia's mouth and slowly started peppering kisses on her earlobe, down her neck, stopping to pay special attention to her collarbone. Virginia was now completely under his spell.

"How can you do that?" She stared down at him with a look of pure love and wonder in her eyes.

"Do what Virginia?"

She smiled softly, "How can you always kiss me like you will never see me again? Every time it's like the first and last time we will ever have this moment. How do you do it?"

"Because I love you." It was such a simple answer, so innocent, and yet it held so much reassurance and truth.

"I never thought I would be the kind of woman to get drunk from an impish wolf's kisses, or that I would ever be the kind of woman who could be truly, utterly, desperately in love."

Wolf wrapped one arm around Virginia's waist, and brought his other hand to cup the back of her head. Cradling her in his arms, brown whiskey colored eyes met ice blue.

"Virginia, you're the kind of woman that deserves to be loved, caressed, and kissed senseless by someone who knows how."

He brought his mouth down to hers again. The next few hours were filled with soft caresses, fiery kisses, moans, and whispers of love and devotion. Wolf most certainly knew how to love, and lord have mercy did he know how to kiss and caress. Virginia and Wolf were both so spent. She fell asleep in Wolf's arms almost instantly and for the first time in days, she had a dreamless sleep.

Morning came far too quickly the next day. Virginia was sound asleep in bed, so Wolf decided to explore the castle further. Aiden was sound asleep next to his mother, giving Wolf a rare moment completely alone. He put on hid black cotton trousers and red wool shirt before quietly slipping out of the room. The cold September air chilled him to the bone so perhaps a little exercise would begin to warm his blood and muscles. The smell of the kitchens drew him in instantly. As he walked in to the red stone kitchen he followed his nose to the oak spice rack. Forty-nine small glass vials were lined up in seven neat rows, seven vials in each row. Man this kingdom was really obsessed with the number seven. None of the vials were labeled, but it did not matter. Wolf picked up a vial at a time, opening the small cork top, and breathing the scent of each spice until he found the ones he was looking for. Eventually he had found the ingredients he wanted. He set a copper pot on the stove and poured in some milk, cocoa, vanilla bean, and sugar. Once the hot chocolate was ready, he picked up a green vial a dashed fragrant sienna colored cinnamon on top. Wolf then got to work with the desserts. There was only one thing that could trump Wolf's love for red meat, and that was his insatiable sweet tooth. He lined up different green, purple, and dark blue vials on the marble counter, each one respectively holding a different spice: cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla, star anise, allspice, cardamom, powdered ginger root, and poppy seeds. He set to making some of his winter time favorites, gingerbread cookies, hazelnut wreaths, and poppy seed rolls. As Wolf baked he closed his eyes and took in the scents around him, reminding himself of his home in the 2nd kingdom. Although Christmas did not exist in the nine kingdoms, they did have a similar holiday. In the winter, during the month of December, everyone in the nine kingdoms would celebrate Queen Gretel's birthday with a month long party. It was Queen Gretel's bravery, ingenuity, and wit that saved the nine kingdoms from the wicked witch. Every December, the citizens of the nine kingdoms would bake giant gingerbread houses, put on plays reenacting the events of Gretel's fairytale, and eat, drink, and make merry on honor of this hero.

Wolf loved the fall and winter time in the kingdoms. He could remember celebrating All Wolves Day, the kingdoms' version of Halloween with his parents and siblings. He could remember them blending in with the villagers, who were all dressed as wolves, shepherds, trolls, gypsies, or princesses. The villagers would build large bon fires at night and dance in a circle around the bright orange flames into the wee hours of the morning. The combination of dancing, eating, and drinking strong mead was enough to make any wolf's blood red hot. A smile tugged on his lips as the memories of his childhood and adolescence came rushing back. After he drank his hot chocolate, and all the buns, wreaths, cookies, and buns were baked, Wolf decided to go back out into the gardens of the palace. He walked along the same path that they travelled last week and slowly his mind began to wonder back to his home in the 2nd kingdom. Wolf had never been homesick this often or acutely before. A part of him almost felt guilty for missing his old life when he had such a beautiful loving family. Suddenly his ears perked up as he began to register a faint rustling sound from the overgrown shrubs on the lawn. It wasn't until that moment that his nose finally registered a strange yet familiar scent, wolf. He crouched down low, hunching his shoulders, his claws extending in to sharp points, his tail extending completely erect in aggression. He bared his fangs as he pounced. He swiped at the stranger with his claws but missed his target when the wolf jumped to his left and rolled away from the attack. The wolf was on his toes now, "Wolf! Stand down, it's me. It's Will!"

Will held his hands up, palm forwards, tilting his chin up to bare his neck completely to Wolf, a sign of submission. Wolf finally caught his breath, and looked closely at the stranger. His scent was very familiar, but this couldn't be Will. The last time he had seen this wolf, he had been a small boy, who hadn't even reached sexual maturity yet. Now Wolf was not looking at a little boy but a tall, frightening man. Will was at least 6'2" with shoulder length copper hair, and honey colored eyes. He had broad shoulders and long lean arms and legs. How could this be Will?

Wolf stepped a little closer and smelled him again. He smelled like Will. It was then that his eyes fell on the small jagged scar on the man's neck, the same scar that Will had. When the boy was only 6 weeks, about 14 or 15 years old in human years, he and his family was set upon by villagers. The villagers held a knife to Will and his sister's throat, threatening to kill them both, just for the crime of being part wolf. The boy fought bravely to save his sister's life and his own. The scar is a lasting reminder of that day.

Wolf's eyes lit up as he smiled and pulled the young wolf into a hug. "Will! Well why didn't you say so!"

"I tried to say so before you tried to decapitate me." Will laughed and returned Wolf's slightly over enthusiastic hug.

The two wolves embraced for a few minutes, patting each other on the back and exchange insults, "You've started gaining weight, married life making you soft?"

"You have no room to talk Will; you still can't even grow a proper beard!"

The men walked back up to the castle, arms over each other's shoulder, reminiscing about the woods of the 2nd kingdom.

"How's everything Will? What's going on back home?"

Will sighed heavily and rubbed the back off his neck with a big heavy hand. "Not good Wolf. The clans are at war, each one blaming the other for the recent murders and kidnappings. The Queen Red hasn't been seen or heard from in days. The people are beginning to starve due to the pillaging and burning of crops. If this goes on any longer, we won't survive."

"Why did you come here?"

"Remy sent me. He thinks he knows the reason why this has been happening and who is behind it. But he won't deal with any humans, only you. He wants you to come to the forest."

Remus, otherwise known as Remy, was alpha male of clan Fraser, one of the oldest clans in the 2nd kingdom. While he was once one of the fiercest supporters of wolves and humans living together, lately he has been pulling away from humans, mistrusting them and their motives.

"Remy won't go any farther than the forests of the 2nd kingdom. He asked me to get you and your family and bring you to the second kingdom."

"How did he know I have a family?"

"Word has travelled from Wendell's palace to our forests; you know how well everyone keeps secrets in the 9 kingdoms. Plus I can smell them even now." It had been so long since Wolf had been in the company of other wolves that he almost forgot what they were like.

Will and Wolf made the walk back to the palace in relative quiet. Wolf was thinking about the information that he had just received. If Remy was asking for him, then something had to be wrong.

As they reached the palace, Wolf took Will to the dining room; breakfast would surely start in a few minutes. They sat at the table and began talking when they heard screams, "Wolf! WOLF!"

"That's Virginia!" Wolf jumped up from the table and ran down the hall with Will following close behind. Wolf could feel the wolf, the protector rise up in him. His fangs lengthened, his eyes began flickering between ice blue and black. When he reached the bedroom, he swung the door open to find the most unexpected scene. There was Virginia sitting on the bed with her hand over her heart and laughing so hard tears were coming down her cheeks. Standing in front of the door, was Aiden. His little eyes were open and bright ice blue. He was trying to keep himself standing but would lose balance and fall on his behind every now and again, only to push himself back up and try standing again. Aiden looked up at his father and started making happy babbling and chuffing noises. Wolf knew that Aiden would be able to see colors now, but would only be able to see blurry shapes and forms until his eyesight completely evolves in the next couple of days. Wolf bent down and scooped up the little pup laughing and twirling him around the room.

"I couldn't believe it. I woke up and saw Aiden was missing and then I just looked up and there he was standing and walking over to the door."

"He was looking for his Papa! Weren't you little guy?"

At this Aiden made some more squeaking and howling noises. Just then Will cleared his throat causing everyone in the room to turn and look at him.

"Sorry, I don't mean to interrupt this precious moment, but Wolf, would you mind introducing me to your beautiful family so we can go eat breakfast. I'm starving!"

Wolf laughed and walked over to Virginia, carrying a wriggling and precocious Aiden with him. He wrapped an arm around Virginia's shoulders and pulled her close to him, "Virginia this is my friend and fellow wolfy, Willieam. Willieam, this is my family."

"A pleasure to finally meet you M'Lady." Will went into a deep over dramatic bow to emphasize his good manners, which only made Virginia giggle.

"Nice to meet you too."

"Well, now that all that is out of the way. Let's go eat!" Wolf was the first out the door with Aiden, followed by Virginia and Will. As the four of them made their way back to the dining room, they chatted happily and Virginia began asking Will questions about what her husband was like before he had become domesticated. Will attempted to share as many embarrassing stories about Wolf as he possibly could.

* * *

**_Thank you to all the Readers. I honestly did not believe anyone would read this. Next chapter will be up in a few days._ Also great goes to Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind for the quote that Wolf says to Virginia about her needing to be kissed often by someone who knows how.**


	5. Chapter 5 Nimue

7 Nimue

Will, Wolf, Virginia, and Aiden sat around the large mahogany table as the food began pouring out of the kitchens. They all began chatting about the adventures that Wolf and Will had in the forests of the 2nd Kingdom.

"So you want embarrassing stories about Wolf. Did he ever tell you about the time I caught him dressed up like a shepardess?"

"What!?" Virginia screamed.

"Oh yeah. He was gonna try to sneak into a village and steal some of their lambs, so this genius decided he would dress up like a shepardess. I'm talkin' pink frilly dress, lace gloves, bows, heels, blonde curly wig, everythin'."

"God I wish I could have seen that!"

"I have to say Wolf; you actually didn't look too bad. There was some poor dwarf visiting the village that almost asked him out on a date. I think he feel in love with Wolf as soon as he saw your black beard poking out from under those long blonde curls you had."

Virginia couldn't help bursting out in laughter. Aiden thought his mother's laugh was so funny he decided to try and mimic her by making his own squeaking and howling noises, his newly opened eyes darting around the room and taking in all the new surroundings.

"Are you serious?!" Virginia looked at her husband who was new a deep shade of pink and was holding his head in his hand.

"What's going on?!" Tony walked into the dining room, and instantly his eyes fell on the stranger at the table.

"Oh hey Dad! Come on, you have to meet one of Wolf's friends. Where is Prince?"

"Wendell isn't joining us for breakfast today. Says he has to get ready for a trip."

"A trip. He didn't mention that to us."

"Yeah apparently he has to go to the farmers in the southern half of the 2nd kingdom. Something about instating a new Red Cross/ Food Kitchen type program for the farmers who lost their crops and their homes."

Virginia was impressed by Wendell's initiative. "How did Wendell even know about the Red Cross or about food kitchens?"

"Hey, I have some good ideas every now and then Virginia. You need to have more faith in your old man." Tony walked up and gave Virginia a hug and then turned his attention back to Will. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked Will up and down, like he was some teenage boy asking to take Virginia to prom. "So you're Wolf's friend huh?"

"Hello my name is Willieam but everyone calls me Will." Will held out his hand to greet Tony properly. Tony looked at his hand and then decided to shake it and be polite. Unfortunately, in all his bravado, Tony didn't realize how strong Will was, and the wolf nearly broke Tony's little hand when they greeted each other. Not to be embarrassed, Tony tried to hide his discomfort and surprise.

"Dad, don't you notice something different?"

Tony hated these kinds of questions from women. They also resulted with him getting yelled at. Trying to avoid the obvious trap Virginia was setting, he started looking at his daughter to check to see if she had put on new clothes or changed her hairstyle. Virginia sat there looking at her father expectantly so Tony finally took a gamble.

"Did you change your hair?"

"For Christ sake Daddy! Not me, look at Aiden. Are you seriously telling me you haven't noticed that his eyes are open and looking at you?!"

Tony looked at the baby in Virginia's arms, sure enough there was little Aiden, his bright blue eyes open and looking right at his grandpa.

"Oh I'm sorry little guy, I didn't notice. Can he actually see me?"

"Wolf says he can see colors and shapes but things will still be kinda blurry for another week. But he said that Aiden can start eating food now, and he already walked this morning!"

"You're kidding! I missed my grandson's first steps!"

"No worries Dad. Here." Virginia placed Aiden on the floor and helped balance himself so he could stand up. Once Aiden was standing, Virginia moved to stand next to Tony and said, "Okay Aiden come on, walk to mama and grandpa."

And just like that little Aiden began waddling over to Virginia and Tony. Right before he reached them he began to lose his balance and almost fell face forward but Tony scooped up the little guy in his arms, a giant proud smile on his face.

"Hey there buddy, I got you." Tony hugged him laughing along with Virginia. It had been a very long time since they all something to smile and laugh about.

"You're in a really good mood Virginia."

"Thanks to Will! He just got done telling a story about Wolf dressing up like a shepardess."

Tony mumbled something about "wolves and their sheperadesses" and, "I pray to God my grandson doesn't start cross-dressing".

"I wasn't cross-dressing, I was hungry," Wolf said in a defensive desperate tone.

"Well anyway, back to you," Tony pointed at Will. "Who are you and why are you here?"

"It's like I said. My names Will. I came from the forests of the 2nd Kingdom, and I'm here to convince Wolf and Virginia to come back to the forests with me."

Tony stood there giving Will a blank stare for a few moments before laughing, "Oh well, thanks for stopping by. Let me show you to the door and don't let the handle hit you on the way out…"

As Tony started trying to lead Will out of the dining room, Virginia stopped him, "Dad, you can't kick him out. If he traveled all this way then it must be something important."

"No Virginia! This is not your fight. Look I know you have a big soft heart for people in trouble but you're a mom now. I'm not going to let you put yourself and my grandson in danger."

"Excuse me, but he is my son. And I am perfectly capable of taking care of both of us. Do you honestly think I would put Aiden in danger!?"

"But Virginia…"

"But nothing Dad! Now the least we can do is hear Will out, and then decide on what to do from there."

The father and daughter stood there glaring at each other for a couple of minutes before Will interrupted, "Look I just wanted to ask for help. Things are getting even worse in the 2nd Kingdom, and pretty soon it will spread to all the other kingdoms. There won't be any safe place left to run to."

"What's going on out there Will?"

Everyone went back to join Wolf, who was already enjoying a second breakfast, at the dining room table. As they all settled down into their seats, Will began to tell everything he had seen and heard.

"It's no' good. People being murdered left and right, fields and orchards being burned to ash, children going missing every day, and the wolves are being blamed for all of it. And why shouldn't we be, it was wolves that I saw doing all the pillaging and kidnapping…"

"THAT'S A LIE!" Wolf screamed as he slammed his palms down on the table.

Aiden's poor newly developed ears shook with the horrible new noise and he began to cry in his mother's arms.

"What is wrong with you Wolf?" she admonished him as she tried calming the little baby in her arms.

"I'm sorry cream puff, and I'm sorry to you too my little sausage" he kissed the top of Aiden's head and the boy began calming down.

Virginia turned to Will, "What do you mean by it was the wolves who were committing these crimes?"

"I can assure you missus, it was not any of us civilized wolves. None of the five clans would ever do such a thing."

"Wait a minute, 5 clans?" Virginia was confused, "I thought there were 6 clans."

"Aye, sure enough there used to be 6, but then one of the clans went about as bad as you can go. They are not like the rest of us so we don't really take them in to account. Wolf, they're working for Her."

Virginia glanced at her husband and saw all the color drain from his face. Whoever She was, Wolf was terrified of her.

"Who is she?"

Wolf shook his head, "We shouldn't even be talking about her."

"I'm sorry Wolf," Will said, "but we can no longer afford to be going around pretending she doesn't exist. She's the one behind all this. She's using the wolves as her army, her spies, her secret police, just like in the old days."

"Who is she?"

Wolf and Will looked around the room, using their sensitive smell and keen hearing to try and detect any hint of danger. After a few moments, once they deemed it was safe to talk in the open, they both said the same name, "Nimue".

"Nimue? Haven't I heard that name before" Virginia was certain that name was familiar to her.

Tony suddenly remembered, "Oh remember! It was in those books Mom used to read you. You know about the wizard Merlin, and Arthur and all the Knights of the Round Table."

"Oh yeah, that's right Nimue was the Lady of the Lake! God it's been forever since I read those stories."

"Ya know of this woman then?" Will seemed impressed by Tony and Virginia's knowledge.

"Well I know the story. She was a beautiful lady who ruled over a mystical place called Avalon. She had magical powers; she made Arthur his sword Excalibur. She falls in love with Merlin but is then forced by Morgan Le Fey to seduce him and lure him to his death, after which she drowned herself in a lake, hence her name."

Once Virginia had finished with her somewhat hodge-podge recap, Will and Wolf both looked at her with a mixture of fascination, confusion, and horror.

"No lass, then we are not talking of the same woman. This Nimue is much more sinister than that, though she wasn't always that way. I've no' heard of this place Avalon, or any of those people, but there is one thing you got right, Nimue was a fey. She had some magic in her and she could control water. She was actually a sweet lass in the old days but then everything changed the day Queen Red the First began to rise to power."

"What does Queen Red have to do with anything?" Virginia asked.

"She has everything to do with it. Queen Red the First would have never been able to take her kingdom back from the wolves without Nimue's help."

"Ok, how does that work," Tony was beginning to think maybe he should have just taken his chances with the NYPD.

Wolf spoke up this time, "Ok, first we have to start at the beginning. You don't mind if I tell the story do you Will?"

"Not at all Wolf, you are ancient compared to me anyways, you probably remember the story better than I do," he gave Wolf a cheeky wolfish grin.

Wolf growled in his general direction before beginning, "Well like he said, Nimue was once a young beautiful maiden, a fey with the power to control water. She could heal herself and others with it, and she could wield it like a mighty weapon. It was said that anything blessed by her and her waters would be indestructible. One day Red the First came to her and asked Nimue to help her fight the wolves so she could take her place as the Queen of the 2nd Kingdom. Nimue said she would help on one condition, that Red would give her first child to Nimue. You see Nimue did not have any children, she wasn't able to have any, but she craved for a child that she could love unconditionally, and that would love her in return. Red agreed without hesitation, and so Nimue gave her a magical bow that would not stop until it pierced the heart of its target…"

"Like the bow the Huntsman tried to kill us with," Virginia had just realized she had her hand over heart as Wolf was talking.

"Yes Virginia, the very same bow. She also enchanted the axe that Red used to kill the wolf, so that it could cut through anything, it would never dull nor rust…"

"Like the axe we got from Juliet the blind Axe man!" Tony shouted

"Huff, Puff! How many times am I going to be interrupted? Cripes! Can I just finish the story please?

Anyways, where was I? Oh yeah, so Nimue gave Red the enchanted bow and axe. Red took the 2nd Kingdom and beat back the wolves. All was well and then, just a few short months later the unexpected happened. Red found out she was already a few months pregnant. No one ever knew who the father was but it came as a shock to everyone, especially Red. You see, Red wasn't exactly maternal, and she certainly didn't want a kid just when she finally got her kingdom. So she decided she would have the baby and give it Nimue like she promised…"

"Wait, I'm sorry Wolf, but I have to ask," Virginia tried her best to give Wolf a puppy dog face so he wouldn't be too mad for her interrupting, " how do you know all this?"

"Red's physician was a wolf, or at least half wolf. Now back to the story. Red gave birth to a girl, and got ready to deliver the baby to Nimue. It was dark on the morning Red went to see Nimue. The sun had yet to rise and it was so cold that Red could see her breaths on the air. As she traveled through the forests of the 2nd Kingdom towards the lake where Nimue lived, the bundle in Red's arms grew heavier and heavier. Red was about halfway to the lake when baby started cooing and snuggling deeper into her mother's chest and warmth. Something happened in that moment and Red turned around and started heading back to the castle. Now she needed a plan. She promised Nimue a baby and she did not dare incur the fey's wrath. She decided that the only way to keep her kingdom and her baby was to kill Nimue. She scoured the kingdom for a mirror that would allow her to trap Nimue. She finally found one such mirror and when she turned the mirror on she saw a world made of ice, frigid and cold where nothing grew and no one lived. She invited Nimue to the castle, pretending that she wanted to feast with Nimue, as a way of thanking her for her help. Then after the feast, Nimue could take the baby and leave. Nimue believed Red, and came to the castle filled with joy at the prospect of finally becoming a mother. When Nimue arrived she saw Red standing in front of the beautiful frosted mirror. Red smiled at Nimue and held her arms out to hug her. Poor Nimue was always so starved for affection and human contact that she instantly ran to Red. When Nimue fell into Red's hug, Red pushed her through the mirror's portal. The last thing anyone heard was Nimue's screams. As soon as Nimue crossed over into the icy world, she instantly froze, her red lips turning purple, her pale skin turning a light blue color, her vibrant green eyes turning to ice blue. The last thing Red saw was the smoke from Nimue's last breath."

"Jesus, that's horrible. How could Red do that?" Virginia was rocking a now sleeping Aiden. It was then that everyone realized how late it had gotten.

"Maybe we should all have some dinner and then go to bed." Wolf suggested. "Will you are obviously welcome to stay the night. You can sleep in Princey's room."

Tony was about to comment before Virginia spoke up, "Wait, I want to hear the rest of the story. So obviously Nimue wasn't dead if Will believes she's behind all this mayhem."

Wolf went to tell the servants to bring up some dinner before continuing with his story. "So, you're right Tony. Nimue was not dead, but pretty close to it. After Red trapped Nimue she assumed that she was safe, so she just started focusing on being a Queen and mother. Then a few years later, when Red the Second was still a little babe, Queen Red had to leave the castle for a few months, there was some crisis in Gretel the Great's half of the kingdom. While Queen Red was gone, a savage wolf by the name of Fenris Ulf snuck into the castle disguised as a human man. He was intent on killing little Red the Second. As he searched the castle he came across Queen Red's room, where he found the strange frosted mirror. He turned the mirror on, and saw the frozen image of Nimue. The story goes that he was about to walk away when he heard a soft feminine voice from the mirror calling out his name "_Fenris, Fenris come to me_". He touched the mirror and was instantly transported to the same frigid wasteland as Nimue. He was now standing face to face with Nimue who was encased in a wall of ice. He was shivering, and knew for sure he would die in this barren land, and then he heard her voice again. _"Come to me Fenris. I know what your heart desires, revenge against the House of Red. Prick your finger and touch the ice. Set me free, and together we will destroy the House of Red._" Fenris was hypnotized. He took the dagger and pricked his finger and touched the blood to the ice. Instantly, Nimue's eyes opened her breaths began again, and she began to move out of her icy prison. Fenris could not take his eyes off her. Her hair was long, down to her hip and white as snow. She was slim, graceful and her feet never seemed to touch the ground. Instead she simply floated across the snow. Her skin was a pale as death with a light blue tint. Her face was heart shaped, with a pointy chin, small slim nose, thin eyebrows, and full purplish lips. Her eyes were what struck him more than anything else. They were ice blue and snowflakes seemed to dance inside them. Even as he stood dying from the cold, he thought it was worth it just to gaze upon this creature.

"Thank you Fenris. I knew I could depend on you. Tell me, do you want revenge?"

"Yes Milady"

"Do you want to kill Queen Red and her little babe?"

"Yes Milady"

"Then swear you fealty to me."

"Milady?"

"Swear that you will follow my every order, that you will protect me, fight for me, and die for me. And in return I will give you the heart of Queen Red Riding Hood."

Fenris gave an awful grin, "I swear it."

As soon as he said the words, a sharp pain like a dagger went through his heart. It was cold as ice, he thought he was dying. Then just as quickly as it came the pain left him. He did not feel the cold anymore. His blood was racing. He felt stronger than he had ever felt in his life.

"Now, you will be my general. You will lead my armies, my spies; you will be the chief of police. What do you think of that?"

"When do I get to kill?"

"Now, my pet. Right now. Let's go kill Queen Red."

The quiet was interrupted by a loud thunderbolt just outside the window. Virginia nearly cried out and jumped out of her seat from shock, waking up Aiden in the process. Aiden now began to cry from exhaustion and fright.

"I think that's enough for one day," said Tony as he got up from the table stretching his shoulders and back.

"But we haven't finished the story," Virginia felt almost a bit childish but she wanted to know more about this Nimue woman.

"We can finish it tomorrow Virginia, now you and our little cub need to be in bed." Wolf wrapped a strong arm around Virginia's shoulders and kissed her on top of her head. "Come on Will that means you too. I'll show you where you can sleep."

They all walked out from the dining room and one by one they were each dropped off at the respective bedrooms. Once Wolf and Virginia were in bed together, Wolf passed out instantly, while Virginia fell into a restless sleep. She kept repeating the same dreams over and over in her mind Wolf screaming out in pain, a small flame in the middle of a barren icy, snow covered field, and a dragon with strange runes all over his body engulfing Aiden in fire.

* * *

**_Well thank you to everyone who is actually sticking around for this story. I have to say I am completely shocked because I really thought no one would read or like this. Let me know what you think. Comments and criticisms are desired since that is the only way I will get better at writing. Hope you like it_**


	6. Chapter 6 On the Road Again

*** Note from me- To everyone who is reading this story and have waited 5 months for this chapter, all I can say is Im sorry. I do have a full-time job so I cannot post often. However this story will be finished and with the summer coming I will post a little more regularly. I hope everyone enjoys the chapter. Criticisms are always welcomed and wanted.**

8 On the Road Again

The next morning was dark grey and cold. Rain fell all throughout the night and showed no signs of stopping. Wolf, Virginia, Aiden, and Will made their way to the dining room to find Tony sitting at the head of the table, drinking tea, and reading a copy of "The Daily Grimm News", a newly instated official 9 kingdoms newspaper.

"Hey Dad," Virginia walked over to Tony and placed a kiss on top of his head, "how'd you sleep?"

"I didn't fall asleep until almost two in the morning! This damn storm kept me up most of the night."

Virginia let her father rant about 'damn fairytale weather' and 'no wonder all these people are homicidal lunatics' while she buttered a piece of toast and poured herself tea. Next to her Wolf was teaching Aiden about all the different scrumptious ways to cook pork, "You see little guy? You can have rashers of fatty, juicy bacon, thick sausages, ground pork, succulent oven roasted pork, delectable pork chops, pork links…"

Will meanwhile was piling up his plate to the ceiling with fried eggs, toast, muffins, rashers of bacon, beans, sausages, grilled mushrooms and tomatoes, potatoes, and washed it all down with mugs of cider. It always amazed Virginia how Wolf and Will could eat so much and never get any bigger. Virginia turned back to Wolf:

"Can you finish the story Wolf? What happened with Queen Red I and Nimue?"

"Well, where did I leave off?"

"You were saying how Fenris brought Nimue back to life and they were plotting to kill Queen Red I."

"Ah huff puff, it was dark times Virginia. You see Nimue was prepared to wait an eternity for someone to help her take her revenge, and she only had to wait a mere few years. Fate can be a fickle mistress…"

Virginia couldn't help rolling her eyes. She had never been a superstitious person and she certainly didn't believe in fate.

"Don't dismiss fate so easily Virginia," Wolf warned.

"Aye he's right Miss," Will looked serious for the first time since he had come to the castle, "Destiny is as real as you or I. And remember lass; if you decide to come back with me to the forests, then there is one thing you have to accept about wolves, fate is our faith. It rules us, guides us. You call it fate, we call it instinct."

"Anyways, as I was saying," Wolf continued, "Nimue didn't have to wait long. You see she needed Fenris, and not just for his blood. She needed someone to do her bidding. Nimue realized from the moment she was trapped in her ice prison that she would never be the same again. She was irrevocably altered; she would die if she ever left her ice kingdom, so she needed to find a general, a spy, a killer. Once she found Fenris, she set to building a grand palace with winding staircases, large foyers, and towering pillars made of ice and snow. She also set to making a weapon to kill Queen Red I. She crafted a sword nearly 5 ft. tall with diamonds inlaid in the hilt. The sword was light and elegant, but enchanted to take on the heart of the owner. If the man who wields the sword is evil then it will only beget evil, but if the man who wields the sword is good then it will be a righteous weapon…"

"It seems to me that the only good way to use the sword is to not use it at all," Said Virginia.

"You're probably right. Fenris was now stronger, quicker, and deadlier than ever before. He was invincible from Nimue's magic and now possessed a weapon that would help him bring down the House of Red once and for all. He took the sword and went back through the portal into the 2nd kingdom. It was night when he returned and the castle was quiet, lightening flashed across the sky and thunder crashed into the stone walls in waves. Fenris stalked his way through the castle until he found the door to Queen Red's bedroom and went inside. Red was asleep in her bed, her little baby sleeping in a crib by her side. He walked over to the bed, his yellow eyes glowing like lanterns in the dark. His claws began to lengthen and sharpen, his teeth turned into fangs. He wore a sick, sinister grin as he stood over the bed, looking down on Red as she slept. He raised the sword above his head and plunged it down…

Before it could take its victim, the sword was caught in the claws of another monster that had been lurking in the darkness.

Fenris looked to see that he was not the only monster in the castle.

"Hello Thomas," Fenris gave him a big toothy grin, "Fancy seeing you here."

"Put your weapon down Fenris." Thomas had Fenris' sword trapped in his long black claws. He was an imposing figure. He stood at 6'9" tall, had broad muscular shoulders, long arms, strong powerful legs, and glowing yellow eyes.

"Oh come on now Thomas, I was just about to have fun," Fenris' muscles corded with tension as he swung the sword upward and brought it down straight on Thomas' neck. Thomas used his right hand to block the sword as he turned his body and used his free hand to swipe his claws across Fenris' chest. The two wolves danced a delicate dance, swiping and lunging at each other. Suddenly a sound from behind drew the attention of both wolves. Queen Red stood there, axe in her hand. She turned to Fenris, "Prepare to die, wolf" she spat the word out like it was the vilest word in the English language. It took Queen Red a moment to realize she knew the other wolf. Although his features were slightly distorted she knew the face of the man behind the beast.

"Thomas?"

Fenris laughed, "What's the matter Red? Didn't know your physician was one of us all along?" He laughed a deep terrible laugh then turned and plunged the sword straight through Thomas' chest. Red watched in horror as Thomas' claws began to turn back into human nails, his eyes turned from yellow into their normal blue. Red no longer saw a wolf but her old friend and most trusted advisor; the man who helped Red deliver her baby. As Thomas began to spit up blood, Fenris pulled the sword out and took a step back, admiring his work. His eyes turned black with strong emotion, in the moment he felt elation. Thomas fell to the floor and with his last breath, Thomas looked into Red's eyes, "It was my honor to serve you. I can die knowing that I served the noblest queen of all the 9 kingdoms. Long live the House of Red!" With that his body went limp. Red looked on, knowing with fiber of her being that her life and her daughter's life were owed to that brave wolf. A quick shadow caught her attention and her eyes fell on a fresh new hell. Fenris was now standing on the opposite side of her, cradling her tiny daughter in one arm and holding his sword drenched in Thomas' blood in the other.

"Put the axe down little Red or watch your daughter die…"

Red threw down the axe without a second's hesitation. "Please not her. She has done nothing to your kind. You want your revenge then kill me. Kill me but let her live."

Red spread her arms wide like a cross. Fenris couldn't believe how perfectly Nimue's plan had worked. He smiled at Red, "With pleasure." He lunged, thrusting the sword straight into Red's heart. As Red fell she looked at her baby, "I'm sorry little Red. I loved you too much to let you go." With that, Red closed her eyes.

Fenris turned to the baby in his arms. He placed her down on Queen Red's bed, lifted the sword above his head, and brought it down on top of the babe. But before the blade could touch the little girl, a brilliant light began to glow, blinding Fenris. The light was a powerful shield surrounding little Red II. He reached for her again but as soon as he touched the young girl his skin began to burn, and he howled in pain. The whole castle now began to stir. Fenris knew soon the guards would find him. He ran back to the mirror, and just as he went through the portal the arrows of forty royal guards flew towards him.

"Did you succeed?" Nimue was sitting on her icy throne, waiting for his reply.

"Yes." He lied.

She stood and walked over to him. She stroked his cheek lovingly and then before he could register her movement she swung her hand across his cheek so hard, he felt the bones in his cheek and jaw fracture.

"Liar! The little girl lives. You failed me!" Instantly a pain gripped Fenris' heart. It was like a sharp jagged dagger had buried itself inside him.

"She's just a child. She is no match for you. I will kill her!" the pain in his heart intensified until he almost couldn't breathe. Every breath pushed the dagger closer to his heart. "I will! Just give me another chance!"

Nimue gazed down at him, her eyes cold and empty. She released him, "Do not ever fail me again."

"Forgive me! I tried. The sword could not cut her. She was shielded by some magic, a light protecting her."

"What?" Nimue's eyes turned to slits like a snake's.

"The girl, there was a shield around her. My sword could not touch her. When I reached for her to strangle her, my hand burned just to touch her."

Nimue tore at her own heart and let a powerful shriek. The icicles began to fall from the ceiling; the ice walls shook and cracked. Fenris in vain covered his ears but with little result.

"Your Majesty…" Fenris had no idea what to do.

"You cannot kill the girl." Nimue looked broken.

Fenris dared to take one step, "Give me a chance…"

"No you fool! You cannot kill her. She is protected by magic stronger than mine."

"What magic could be stronger than yours?"

"It is old magic, mother's love."

As Wolf came to the end of the story he paused to look at his audience. Virginia was cradling Aiden to her heart, looking down at him as though she were afraid that he would disappear as soon as she let him go. Tony was wiping away tears from his eyes. And Will, the one he was most concerned for, had the look of a ragged broken man. Will got up from the table without another word and headed towards the garden.

"Is he ok?" asked Virginia. Will was usually always smiling and laughing. Now he looked like a man haunted by ghosts that he could never be rid of.

"This story is not his favorite." Wolf was concerned for the boy. "Thomas was his Will's father."

Everyone had settled down for the night. Will returned from his self-inflicted solitude only to bury his sorrow in a bottle of scotch. Tony had gone to bed, snoring like an angry bear, while Virginia and Wolf were lying in their bed together.

"We have to help him, Wolf. We have to help all of them."

"Virginia, we need to think about this."

"What's to think about? We will travel with Will to the 2nd kingdom's forests. I will get a job at the Red Riding hood academy and you will watch Aiden. Once I'm in I'll find out what and who is behind all this destruction. We'll save the 9 kingdoms just like we did before."

"Before we didn't have a baby Virginia."

"Wolf, would you ever let anything hurt our son?"

Wolf's eyes glowed yellow, "NEVER!" he snarled out the answer.

"What would you do if someone tried to hurt our son?"

Wolf was beginning to change even more, "I would rip their throat out and lay it at your feet!"

"Then I trust you to take care of him while I try to figure out what's going on with Queen Red and the wolves."

"Virginia…"

"We are going to help them Wolf."

Wolf rubbed a hand over his face. He looked down on Virginia and cupped the back of her slender neck with his big calloused hand. He placed a kiss on top of her head, "Thank you"

They lie on the bed together and drift off to sleep. Virginia dreamed of fire and ice.

In the morning, Wolf and Virginia told Tony their plan. Tony was of course completely against the idea. When it seemed that there was no way he was going to convince Virginia to stay in the castle, he begged her to leave little Aiden behind with him. But Virginia adamantly refused to leave her son. Wolf and Will then set to making bacon sandwiches to pack for their trip and getting all other affairs in order. In the early hours of dawn, right before the sun began to rise, four travelers set on the path traveling to the forests of the second kingdom.


	7. Chapter 7 The Woman in the Lake

Chapter 9 The Lady in the Lake

The forests of the 9 kingdoms have changed since Virginia last visited them. The path she remembered walking on their last adventure was buried under fell trees. The large oaks that surrounded them looked sick, and black as coal. The soft lush grass was gone, replaced by twisted vines and weeds. The air felt heavy and a thick fog filled the dark purple sky. Virginia sat underneath a towering oak tree, absentmindedly playing with the dark red leaves as they fell around her and gazing at her own reflection in the beautiful, cool, crystal clear lake next to her. Wolf and Will had gone hunting for their dinner, taking Aiden along with them. Aiden seemed to be growing taller and stronger every day. He was only 5 months old but was already the size of a 10 year old and an avid runner and hunter. Virginia felt tears welling up in her eyes as she thought about the fact that in another few years Aiden would be a full grown adult, and wouldn't need her anymore. She watched the tears rolling down her cheeks in her reflection in the water. Her biggest worry when she found out she was pregnant was that she wouldn't know how to be a good mom. She remembered her own mother growing up. In the beginning, her mother had been kind, nurturing, and completely in love with her little baby girl. But then a darkness slowly began to consume her, until she finally succumbed and turned into something twisted and evil. What if the same sickness consumed Virginia? Virginia sat still, letting her mind wonder for quite some time. Her body began to go numb as she continued staring into the lake. Her mind began playing tricks on her; she could swear her reflection was smiling at her. It looked exactly like Virginia except for the eyes. The reflection's eyes were silvery like two mirrors. The reflection lifted her pale delicate hand and beckoned Virginia to come closer. As if in a trance, Virginia leaned in and raised her own hand reaching out to touch the water. Before she could stop herself, she lost her balance and fell into the lake. She felt something pulling her deeper into the dark water. Virginia tried to kick her feet and swim toward the top of the lake but she couldn't move. Her whole body felt like it was constricted by invisible chains. The more she tried to move her arms and legs, the tighter the chains coiled around her. Her reflection was floating right above her, smiling down at her. The reflection laughed, a sweet musical sound, as she watched Virginia drown. Virginia's eyes grew heavy. Slowly her world went black and her mind was occupied with only one thought, she was about to die.

Far away in her icy palace, Nimue watched through her mirror as the life left Virginia's body. Her fingers curled around the arms of her throne as ice and snow swirled around her, the crystals growing more hectic as her anticipation grew. As Virginia's body began to sink into the abyss, another figure appeared in the mirror.

Wolf wrapped his arms around Virginia's small body and kicked his legs with all the power he had, propelling them both towards the surface.

"No!" Nimue shrieked. She watched Wolf rise to the surface and drag Virginia and himself to safety.

"_Is she alright?" Will shouted, holding a frightened Aiden who was kicking and clawing to get out of Will's hands and run to his mother. _

"_Mama! Mama!"_

"_Calm down, little one. She's alright. I ken you want your mother but not until we know it's safe."_

_Wolf had begun CPR on Virginia, praying he was not too late. "Virginia! Oh please wake up: Open your eyes Virginia!" He alternated breathing into her month with pressing down on her fragile chest, feeling sure he must have cracked her ribs in the process. Wolf continued for what seemed like an eternity but with no result. "Virginia!" Wolf began howling and whimpering in pain. Finally, with one last push Virginia violently jerked awake, coughing up water out of her lungs. As she desperately tried to take in some air, her eyes and ears took in what was going on around her. She was cradled in Wolf's arms. He was kissing her head and telling her how much he loved her. Aiden ran towards her and wrapped his small arms around her neck, crying into her hair. It was at that moment that Virginia recalled everything that had happened._

"_The reflection! It was magic…"_

"_What are you talking about Virginia?"_

"_I was sitting next to the lake. I saw my reflection. It looked just like me but it had eyes like mirrors. It reached out its hand to me and before I could even see what I was doing I reached for it. I fell into the water. The reflection pulled me down deeper and deeper. I tried to kick, swim but I couldn't move. I looked up and the reflection was standing over me, smiling."_

"_Nimue" Will looked between Virginia and the lake. _

Nimue shrieked a high-pitched scream shattering the mirror into a thousand pieces. She felt her power surging through her body. She lifted her hands and from her palms, ice flew out in all directions like daggers.

"My lady…" Fenris stood at the doorway. "The child is ready."

Nimue stood tall and smoothed her long dress and icy blonde hair before following Fenris out the door. "Let's hope this time we are successful Mr. Ulf."

"We will be successful Madame."

Nimue was not so sure. She took her gloves out of the pocket of her ice blue robes and placed them on her hands. She was beginning to give up hope on her dreams. She walked down the corridors of her palace contemplating her destiny and her decisions. Surely what she was doing was right. After all didn't she deserve joy just like everyone else? Her temper began to rise as she thought about Queen Red and the 4 saviors in the woods. They were all so happy. They had lives filled with love, family, peace, and children. Why couldn't she have that too? As they approached the tower, Nimue made sure to get her anger in check. She didn't want to scare the child she was about to meet. They stopped in front of a blue door, Nimue placed her gloved hand on the handle, took a deep breath, and walked in. The room was decorated in lavender and baby blue. The walls were painted as a mural, showing all manner of mythological creatures. Feys, centaurs, dragons, mermaids, and princess were all represented in the beautiful artwork. Toys, stuffed animals, dolls, snow globes, and music boxes filled every corner of the room. Chests and drawers stood filled to the brim with beautiful gowns, tiaras, flower crowns, and ivory combs and hair pins. In the center of the room stood a queen size four poster canopy bed, and sitting on top of the flowery bed covers, curled into a little ball, was a little girl.

"Hello, little one" said Nimue as she cautiously approached the trembling child. "It's alright. You do not need to be afraid of me. Or anything else here."

"I want to go home," the young girl cried.

"You are home, dearest heart." Nimue sat down next to the girl on the bed. "I know this must seem strange but this palace is your new home. I will give you everything your heart desires. You will be a princess, and I will love you as my own daughter."

The girl, who was a poor orphaned country girl and only 3 years old, was easily swayed by the Fey Queen. She wiped the teens from her cheek, "So then you don't mean to hurt me?"

"Of course not, I mean to take care of you. To be your mother and your protector."

And Nimue truly meant every word she said, for her greatest wish was to be a mother.

The sweet little girl, who took pity on the beautiful lonely queen, embraced Nimue and held her tightly. Nimue hugged the small child to her chest. As they embraced, Nimue thought for once her dream was about to come true, the gloves were working. She laughed and as she laughed, ice crystals fell from her lips and swirled in the air around them. One tiny crystal found its way into the eye of the little girl. Suddenly, the small child in her arms began to grow cold.

"No! No, No, No!" Nimue screamed as she watched the little girl freezing to death before her eyes. She let go of the little girl, but it was too late. The frost had already taken hold of her heart. Nimue screamed out in pain. The shriek caused the glass inside the room to shatter around them. She could do nothing but watch as the little girl's skin turned blue, and the life left her eyes. Her last little breath turned to smoke on the chilly air. Nimue fell to her knees, clutching the bed covers, weeping. All her strength left her body as the tears continued to pour. A knock at the door shook her from her grieving of

"Majesty!" Knock, knock "Majesty, open the door!"

Nimue opened the door as Fenris ran into the room. He saw the little girl dead on the covers, and Nimue standing next to her with an empty and tired look in her eyes. He knew better than to speak at this moment. After some long moments, Nimue turned to Fenris and said, "The gloves did not work. We need to find another way."

"Yes, Madame. I will speak with the Draenei." He hesitated asking the next question. "Should I place the girl with the others?"

"No, Mr. Ulf. I will take care of her, as I took care of all the others."

Fenris bowed and left the Queen to her task. The Queen picked the little girl up and cradled the child in her arms. She gently placed a kiss on her head and smoothed the hair away from her face. It was almost like she wasn't really dead, just asleep. Or at least that was what Nimue told herself. She wrapped the little girl up in a cover and carried her down the steps of the tower. Nimue went down into the courtyard of her palace and placed the little girl on one of the ivory benches. She went to find a shovel and began digging a hole in the courtyard. She could have easily used magic to bury the child, but she never did. She preferred to do this without magic. It made her stronger and more willful to take her revenge on the House of Red for taking away any chance of a happy ever after, and forsaking Nimue to life of solitaire. Once she he done, she picked up the little girl and sat on the bench with the girl on her lap. She stroked the child's hair and sang softly to her. Then she placed a last kiss on the child's head, and placed her into the burial plot. Once she had finished burying the child, she placed her hand over the spot where the child lay and spoke an ancient spell. On that spot grew the most beautiful peony flowers, pink and full of life. The frost could not kill them, and they could never grow old but would always be lush and full of life.

"Goodbye, my sweet child. Rest and be at peace."

Nimue turned and walked out of her courtyard back to her minors, but before she did, she turned to look back at the flowers and she nearly wept again. There in her courtyard stood one hundred tall pink peony bushes. One for each child she has had to bury.

Meanwhile, back in the forests, Will and Aiden were both fast asleep on the forest floor, while Wolf and Virginia say dup talking about the days everts.

"I should never have brought you and Aiden here." Wolf looked 5 years older since this morning.

"What difference would it have made? Wolf if this woman is hell bent on destroying everything then there is no safe place to hide."

"You could have died Virginia" He looked at her with the emerald eyes that she loved. There was so much pain and far behind those eyes.

"I'm still here. We got through this before, we can do it again. We just have to avoid any water or mirrors."

"Bah, huff puff! You make it sound so simple!"

"And you make it sound hopeless."

Wolf exhaled a breath he didn't realize he had been holding. "You're right Virginia. I'm sorry"

Wolf kissed his wife and pulled her down to lay on top of his chest. "I'm sorry. Go to sleep. You out of all of us really need the rest."

"Shouldn't one of us keep watch?"

"I would smell anything that tried to get close to you. We are alone. Sleep"

Both she and Wolf closed their eyes, enjoying each other's warmth and scent. After a few hours, everyone was asleep, except for Virginia. She couldn't shake off what happened at the lake, the story of Nimue, or the dreams she kept having. After a few more hours, when she just couldn't take it anymore, she succumbed to sleep. She dreamed about ice and fire. She dreamed about Aiden and a dragon that calls out her name, begging her for help.


End file.
